


Tumblr Famous

by sk1b00t



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Online Dating, Bilingual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), GayKeith!, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Hunk and Keith are besties, I will update tags as I progress in the story, Keith is Shiro's cousin, Keith is confused baby, Keith is lowkey emo, Klance IRL, Klance becomes canon in this AU, Lance and Pidge are besties, Lance is space nerd, Latino Lance (Voltron), M/M, Shiro's family adopted Keith, Texas Keith, Tumblr, Tumblr famous, Wisconsin Lance, WriterKeith!, conspiracy Keith, keith loves conspiracies, shiro is in college, they/them pidge, tumblrAU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-14 14:37:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 38,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10538529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sk1b00t/pseuds/sk1b00t
Summary: Hunk decides that Keith needs a Tumblr, and that's when Keith's life ends and his social life begins.





	1. Tumblr N00b

“Trust me on this one Keith. You will love Tumblr.”

Hunk and I were on our Sunday binge of video games. Emphasis on the word 'were'. Somehow somewhere in between video games and me taking a quick bathroom break, Hunk thought it would be a great idea for me to get a Tumblr account..

“First things first. What do you want your Tumblr name to be?”

“Tumblr name? Like a username?”

“Yep pretty much! It can be anything, as long as the name isn't already taken.”

Anything? Let's just keep it simple so I remember it.

“How about Red?”

“Probably already taken, but try it out.”

I proceed to type in 'Red'. Sadly the username is already taken. I guess I'll just repeat it? Red_Red it is then... Or not. Red_Red_Red? I'm in. Hunk brings me through the basics of Tumblr like reblogging and how tags work. Hunk sometimes looks like he is about to murder me because I really am technology challenged, but he persists through my constant questions.

“So a reblog is a share option, and the heart thing is a like?”

Yeah, I'm that bad. Hunk has helped me determine my profile picture, (which is grumpy cat until I like another one) and my bio. Hunk insisted on a “nickname” instead of my actual name, so I decided on Red obviously. 

“Okay, now you should post something! Maybe one of your writings?”

Post something? Why would anyone be interested in my writings? I guess I have nothing to lose. I picked up my notebook, and wrote out the first thing that was written there.

__

> _Nothing truly lives unless they are happy. Nobody is happy unless they survived the pain. Only the weak can't survive it sadly, but there is no sunshine without some rain._

That was a weak piece I wrote at the beginning of the year, but it will do. I was about to hit the post button, but then Hunk grabs my arm before I could left click.

“Remember what I said about tagging?”

Oh right. Nobody is going to see my stuff if I don't tag. Right. 

_**#emo #emobullshit #poetry #thisisshit #ihatetagging #edgy #edgypoetry #pain #inspirational #redredredpoetry #real #emopoetry #ihatemylife #textpost #tumblraesthetic #aesthetic**_

That's enough tags for now. That's some tedious work just for people to see some words that they weren't looking for. I hit the post button and continue onto the tags again. I follow whoever posts good stuff as I go along, which Hunk from what I can tell thinks it's not the best stuff. I bet whenever he makes a new recipe he posts it on here. 

Speak of the Devil. 

After scrolling for not even a minute, a little one appears on top of the bar by the lightning bolt. Clicking on it, I see that I've gained one follower. 'food-goo-recipes'.

“Congrats! Your first follower!”

“Hunk, I'm pretty sure that's you.”

“You're not wrong buddy!”

I followed Hunk's Tumblr, and I start going through his stuff. I reblog a couple of his most recent recipes, then I click off into the tag land once again. The worst part of this Tumblr business is the whole 'tag everything' bit. Should I really care about tagging?? Is this really how I'm spending my Sunday afternoon? Scrolling through a sketchy-er version of Facebook? I guess I am, because I think I'm already addicted. It's like I get to choose what I see on my Timeline, (or as Hunk calls it Dashboard) and be completely anonymous. It's pretty cool actually, and I need to find more things to do with my life aside from exercise and writing. Time to look up some DIY's.

I pass by some home DIY's since I'm not really a 'home decor' kind of guy. I also don't like the makeup DIY's or hair DIY's. Never again. Just as I was about to click off the tag, I come across a bookmark DIY. It has multiple ways to create cool looking bookmarks for less than five dollars. Now that's what I'm talking about. I reblog the post for later, and I continue on to the creators page.

León72Azul was their name. According to their bio they post their own original DIY tutorials and memes. I scroll through their content to find the majority of the DIY are practical and pretty nerdy. I like that a lot. I'm going to follow them. I hear the creak of my bed behind me ever so slightly.

“Mom just texted me saying that she wants me to help out with dinner. I'm glad that you're enjoying Tumblr though! Feel free to send me anything through the messaging system they got. Oh and text me your paper cause I still have to grade it for class tomorrow!”

I turn around in my computer chair and leap to my feet. I always walk Hunk home since he lives across the street. That and sometimes his mom will send me home with food to share with the family. I don't shut off my computer since I know I'm just going to come back on once I'm home, so I just grab my jacket and off Hunk and I go into the humid air of Texas. Winter just ended, and I'm not ready whatsoever to have that heat back in my life. I say that as if it never left, but at least it was like twenty degrees cooler.

We continue downstairs and oddly enough I don't see Shiro or our parents. He must be getting picked up from work and dad decided to tag along. We walked across the street with no problem, and Hunk's mom sent me home with a batch of the famous Garrett sugar cookies. Gotta stash some of these for myself... Anyways, I retreat back into my room after kicking off my shoes, throwing my jacket off my shoulders, and onto the singular chair in the corner of my room. Now that Hunk isn't here I can post more of my writings.

I post a handful of them, tagging all of them with everything my mind could think of. Maybe I should create some preplanned ones for when I'm not on? Though how do I do that? Can I do that? I click on my account to see if I can find my answers. No cigar. But, I do see another little one off into the corner of my screen. The little one was León72Azul following me back. Why did they follow me back? Probably out of courtesy. Pity even. Maybe even a potential friend? Probably not and it's just them being nice. Tumblr is confusing me way too much. I think it's time for me to log off for the day and ask Hunk more questions for tomorrow. I log out of my account, and I quickly email my paper to Hunk. I think I'm going to play Mario Kart until I have to go downstairs and eat. Or until Shiro comes and bothers me. Either or works.


	2. Tumblr Renovations and Noodle Hairs

“Man Sendak is really a hard grader. You can't even please him Keith! You're like the best writer I know!”

Hunk managed to turn in my paper before the midnight deadline, and he received a C- on his paper and I received a B+. At least he can't fail us on the communication aspect of it since both Hunk and I have each others backs. 

“I'm not that great of a writer Hunk. It's just something I like to do in my spare time.”

I start to take off my jacket, because man today was a scorcher. Does this school have air conditioning? As of right now we are waiting for the bell to ring for our first class to start, which isn't for a while.

“Keith, give yourself more credit my man. You just have a superb way with words and have mountains worth of journals from your past. You are a very good writer. Don't knock yourself down about that at least.”

I appreciate Hunk a lot. For him being my only friend outside of school, he sure is the highest quality of friend anyone could ask for. He is completely patient with me and even laughs at my jokes when I do crack them every other full moon. Speaking of which...

“Hey Hunk, can I pre-plan future posts on Tumblr? Like is that a thing?”

“Oh heck yeah my dude! Here I'll show you. Download Tumblr on your phone.”

Oh yeah, Tumblr is also an app. Hopefully the schools shitty ass Wi-Fi won't delete my VPN again like last week. I'm tired of downloading new ones. 

The good news is the VPN hasn't been removed yet, the bad news is I can't remember my password for my Tumblr. Great.

“You know Keith, I should get you one of those grandma booklets where you can put down your passwords for everything. You have the worst memory. Best writer, worst memory.”

I can't even retaliate because it's true. It took me three years to remember Hunk's birthday, and even then I sometimes have to take a minute to remember it. Maybe I should take him up on his offer. 

It takes me a while to retrieve my password and log in, but I did it. Hunk shows me how to set up future posts, and how drafts could be used as a bookmark place if I wanted it to be. In return for helping me, I reblogged his most recent post from this morning and I gave it a good review. I've already had his lasagna, and it almost made me cry the first time. We didn't have that much time after my Tumblr fiasco, so we started walking towards our classes to kill off that last minute. My first class is Physics. Fantastic.

“I'll see you later Keith. Maybe we can play some Pokemon at Lunch?”

“Yeah let's do that. See ya Hunk.”

We clasp our hands together and do a generic fist bump. It's our own handshake in a way, since again I can't remember a whole complicated handshake. We tried that once. Never again. 

I take my seat in the far back of the classroom. No, not the anime corner, but the corner corner where there isn't a window or a clear view of the board. That corner. I'm glad this classroom isn't made up of pods of desks or tables or else I would lynch myself. I hate forced group activities. Therefore I make sure my teachers at the beginning of the year know that I will do every single project by myself unless if Hunk is in my class. I really don't like people. I really only like my family and Hunk's family. Trust issues much?

The bell shrieks and I flinch. I also don't like sudden loud noises. What I do like is that white noise from light chatter among people. Then I can concentrate on practically anything. But today we have a substitute, therefore a Bill Nye video will play or a Magic School Bus episode. Just lovely.

I can't write in the dark, so I guess I should go through Tumblr. Very discreetly I pull out my phone and quickly turn down the brightness, and I have my bag on my desk therefore I have the perfect cover in my little corner. 

Now what should I do on Tumblr today?

Go through the tags, write down another poem of mine, or finally change my profile? Limitless possibilities.

Heck maybe I should message that one new follower I have? Pfftt nah I'm not like that. But what does it mean when I have more numbers on the little side bar than just a one? I clicked on the numbers, and I couldn't believe what I am seeing.

I have gained over fifty followers overnight. Where did they come from?? Why are they following me??? I continue to scroll through all the names who followed me, and many of them are also poetry like blogs or edgy like. Hunk was right about the tagging... But holy shit??

“Excuse me sir, but could you please refrain from making too much noise and not be on your phone?”

I stare up at the sub and she has her hand inches from my face. Great. Now I can't do anything for this period. Perfect.

* * *

I get my phone back at the end of the day and I immediately check Tumblr again. Am I dreaming about this? 

No I'm not.

In fact, I have seven more followers making it 64 people who follow me. I have to scream about this to Hunk.

I find Hunk at our tree. This tree is a simple tree that kinda looks sad by the way it slants, but it's the tree that's in front of the city bus stop so it works. He looks as if he is determined to get something done on his phone, so I wait before I start talking. Curiosity gets the best of me after five seconds of silence, and I lean over to see what's on Hunk's screen. Flappy Bird again??

“Hunk, that game became popular when we were in middle school. You need to drop it.”

Hunk jumps at my voice, and I hear the bird drop to it's doom.

“Keith?! I almost beat my high score! And it's not that lame of a game. It's a good way to pass time.” 

“Sure buddy. Anyways, I gained a lot of Tumblr followers and I'm freaking out about it??”

Hunk shuts off his phone and pockets it, full attention towards me.

“That's great! Told you tagging works wonders.”

“But Hunk, who would even want to follow me? Like I don't post anything that's good. In fact all of it is pretty cringe-y like I'm still stuck in my MCR phase.”

“Keith, you still are stuck in your MCR phase.”

“Point taken, but still, I'm not that interesting?”

The bus off to the right of us takes a left turn and starts rolling down the street towards us. We pause our conversation to board the bus, and we take our usual seats in the front of the bus, but not behind the bus driver.

“You are like the color black. It's very gloomy and depressing, but somehow everyone loves the color. Tumblr gives you the power to give the people who look at your blog the real you instead of the perceived you, if you know what I mean?”

“Yeah I got it... Do I really look gloomy and depressing?”

“A bit yeah. But I like you anyways pal.”

The bus take us and some other folks to other bus stops. We get off at the fourth bus stop, and then we walk about two blocks to our street. It takes us an hour to get home from school or to get to school, but Hunk and I have found multiple ways to entertain ourselves from the years upon years of bus sitting boredom. 

One of them being see who could stare at someone the longest before they notice. Another one being who could make the weirdest noise with just their mouth. Seventh grade was wild.

Hunk has to babysit the neighbors once again, so I decided to go home and really work out my Tumblr, because man it is seriously disorganized. I also need a new image because grumpy cat isn't doing it for me anymore. 

I steal some of the sugar cookies from the kitchen, along with a V8 from the fridge. Gotta balance this out somehow, right? The retreat back to my room went flawless, without any parents to bother me about how school went.

Now it's time for me to destroy my life and try to make my Tumblr look cool.

I took out the grumpy cat right away and replaced it with a picture of me, but just my black t-shirt with a little bit of my arms in it. I like it edgy. Next I picked out a better and cleaner theme, which let me tell you was the hardest decision I've ever had in my life. Some themes I wondered why they even existed because of how lame and extra they are.

I was going to fix my bio next, but I think I deserve to scroll through my dashboard a little bit.

The usual likes and reblogs, sometimes a chuckle. Why did I get a Facebook again? How did I not know about this???

Then that's when it hit me.

I could look up conspiracy theories on here.

I feel my stomach flip as I came to that realization. No more looking at sketchy websites! On top of that I can post my own theories?? I think I've found my new addiction, so long Wii.

After a few tag searches and scrolling, I found the topic that I wanted to write about.

The JFK and Abe Lincoln Conspiracy.

I open the new post button and I write out my thoughts.

__

> _Is the JFK and Abraham Lincoln Coincidences Actually A Conspiracy?  
>  _
> 
> _The multiple 'coincidences' between John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln are extensive. Everything from simple details like both being assassinated on a Friday, to the fates of their shooters. There is something more to this than just a 'coincidence'. But what does all of this mean?_
> 
> _I believe there is obvious tinkering in our time line. This couldn't have been a preplanned job because..._

I continued to write up my theory within an hour. I went through all the details of both murders and how it couldn't have been staged like some believe. I even included pictures, so you know this is professional. At the end I ask whatever followers I have what they think, and I post it without a second thought.

Now I wait for any responses that might come my way.

Might.

“Keith it's time for dinner!”

Did I really write that long? I guess time flies when you talk about time travel too much. I also didn't take the time to change out of my school clothes, which honestly it's just my usual jeans and t-shirt with a random saying on it, but I like sweatpants and a hoodie for home.

I choose my favorite grey sweatpants that I've had since middle school, and a black hoodie that I got from Shiro for my birthday last year. It has a foot print of big foot with the saying “I Believe”. Classic.

One foot after the other, I made my way to the dinning room. Shiro was placing a bowl of noodles on the table, and dad was placing a bowl of sauce. Mom was in the living room on the phone, probably something with her job. I resume my spot on the left of the table, which is the opposite of where Shiro sits. Then we have dad to the left of me, and mom to the right. Shiro pokes me in the arm before sitting.

“I didn't see you on the Wii, come up with a new obsession?”

“Yes, doesn't mean you have to know about it.”

I stick my tongue out at Shiro, in which he returns back. Mom joins us at the table, and we start serving ourselves. As always, dad starts the conversation first.

“So Keith, how was school today?”

Did anything interesting happened? Nothing really does. Except...

“I got my phone confiscated for the first time today. I wasn't being as stealthy as I thought I was.”

I hear mom drop her fork a little too harshly.

“You what? Why were you on your phone in class?”

Oh yeah, gotta come up with an excuse.

“I was ah, playing Flappy Bird.”

Shiro stiffles a chuckle across from me. Why did I have to say Flappy Bird?

“No excuses. You better not pull something like that again! I would have been more understanding if you were texting a friend, but a mobile game? Seriously Keith?'

Shiro was trying so hard not to burst. He stopped eating just so he could compose himself.

“Well I mean, would it have been better if I was texting someone? I was on my phone in class regardless.”

“That is true, but if you were texting a pretty girl I would understand.”

Ah yes. I still have to tell my parents that I think girls are permanently infected with cooties.

“Or a pretty guy.”

Forks hit plates and silence ensues. Okay Keith, you didn't just majorly fuck up or anything. It's not like you had a plan where you would sit your brother down first and then proceed to tell your family with the support of your brother. It's not like you just outed yourself in the worst way possible. No one spoke for a solid five seconds, before dad cleared his throat.

“I'm assuming this is you coming out to us Keith?'

I feel my skin turn to ice and my stomach flip my lunch from earlier. I couldn't look my dad in the eyes, so I just have a stare off with my spaghetti.

“Maybe.”

More silence, then Shiro finally bursts. He laughs out loud so hard that a noodle is dangling from his nostril, and I start laughing uncontrollably. Now all of us are laughing hard, whether it was at me being gay or Shiro's noodle hair, I felt myself relax and my face warm up. Despite my mom being a workaholic, my dad being a stay at home dad with a jewelry making job, and a brother who spends more time at college than at home, I think my family is perfect. 

Our laughing subsides, and mom was the first to speak.

“Oh honey, we accept you for whoever you are. Just don't do anything illegal.”

And that was dinner. All of us were full off of that laughter fest, so we just cleaned up and had a huge family hug. Yes, I was in the center of it.

Shiro and I walked up the stairs to our rooms, and he gave me a little punch in the arm, then escaped into his own room shortly after.

That is a dinner I can never forget.

Now, time to check Tumblr.

I'm to lazy to log into my computer, so I turn off my lights and get ready for bed. It's like sometime past seven, but heck I'm probably going to spend all my time on Tumblr anyways.

I pull up my phone from my backpack, and it's a good thing I was laying down when I checked the amount of notifications I had. I had so many notifications, that I think it's a good time to turn them off in my settings.

My followers have increased, and my reblogs were absolutely crazy. Did this many people like my theory this much? Apparently so, because there are multiple reblogs with their opinion on the matter. I click on each one, but I'm mildly disappointed on the responses. Many of them have claimed god awful theories, and others just say they agree with me. I want someone who makes a compelling argument on this matter. 

I persist through the 'notes' as Tumblr calls it. I finally reached the last one after a half hour, and the name strikes a chord in me.

León72Azul. My second follower, or really my first follower aside from Hunk made their own theory.

__

> _León72Azul: I personally think it was staged. It was not staged at the beginning though, but I bet some people came together coughtheilluminaticough and made sure that JFK became president, and made sure other aspects of his life matched up with Lincoln._

That... Actually makes a lot of sense. How do I respond to him? It would be rude to only respond to them and none of the other people who commented on it, so should I personally message him?

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Hi. Explain to me more about your Illuminati theory_.

Did I seriously just do that? I'm acting like a middle school girl. I shouldn't be nervous over messaging a stranger about a conspiracy theory. Get it together Keith.

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Ok buckle up cause your in for a ride_

They did not just use the wrong your.

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _You're*_

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Oh god you are a grammer Nazi??_

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Grammar*_

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Cruel ;-;_

What is even going on? I hate people who can't use simple grammar. On top of that, I think I just scared them off with my 'Grammar Nazi' tendencies.

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Anyways, I think that the Illuminati made a plan with JFK and paid him to become president. Maybe JFK knew, maybe he didn't know he was going to die, but for sure JFK is apart of the Illuminati. I say he was the leader before his death which is why he was popular with the people_

And so I messaged León72Azul for hours upon hours. There were times where they were AFK for a couple of minutes, but for the most part they messaged me back right away.

I fell asleep before I could tell them what my thoughts on aliens were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aye yo. I'm going to try to make each chapter progressively longer by raising the word count by 1,000 or 2,000 each time. I also will appreciate any advice for the story or critiques! Also I promise we will see Lance's POV soon, just not right away. Follow me on my personal Tumblr: rox6564!


	3. How Does One Friend?

My eyes throb in pain as light filters through my window. The sun is yelling at me to get up, but I roll over into my pillow instead. I soon realize that I am covered in sweat. Stupid sun. Stupid Texas heat.

I peak over at my clock, which it says it's 5:21 in the morning. Ugh too early. Way too early. I prop myself up into sitting position, and I realized my phone stuck to my face while I was sleeping. I am disgusting. My phone is dead, I am covered in sweat, and I'm not even supposed to get up until 6:00. Just perfect.

The bed becomes barren once I stand up and plug my phone in. I pace myself towards my dresser and pick out all the things I would need after my shower, and I tip toe through the house over to the bathroom that is luckily just placed across the hall from my room. 

I flip on the light, and man do I look dead. My hair has curls everywhere and I have an imprint of my phone on my right cheek. Beauty sleep is the real myth. 

I start to strip from my sleepwear and turn on the shower to scalding hot. Maybe that will make the mark go away? 

Instead of testing the temperature like a normal person, I just jumped in and immediately regret my decision. I hold back a shriek of pain, and I quickly turn the handle to a lower temperature. Can my skin blister from this?? My skin turned super red, but I survived. 

Shampoo, rinse, body wash, rinse, brush teeth, done. 

You weren't expecting a 'steamy' shower scene, were you?

After drying myself off and wrapping the towel around my waist, I slowly open the door again and practically scurry into my room again. 

The real question is what am I wearing today? I think I'm feeling red today. Therefore it's time for me to wear my red Zodiac Killer t-shirt and gray skinny jeans. Probably my lightest colored outfit. I need to at least wear a black jacket.

My phone goes off for a second, and the only time I get notifications is if someone texts or calls me. My entire family is still asleep I'm sure, so it's Hunk?

 **Nerd to Dork:** _I think I got sick from one of the kids :'( No school for me today_

Fuck. Nothing is worse than when one of us is gone from school. I guess I'm going in alone today... Unless if I skip or act sick?

My dad will see right through me if I even try acting sick. Maybe skip?

My mom will lynch me. 

School is my only option. It's now 5:42, which means I have about a little less than an hour for breakfast and whatever else I want to do. I didn't get any homework, so I'll probably just scroll through Tumblr for that huge chunk. I grab my bag and my charger, then trudge down the stairs to the kitchen to find some sort of energy. I'm not feeling hungry really, so I think I'm just going to pick up a cheese stick and an apple.

The creaking of the stairs comes to my ears, and Shiro appears around the corner moments after.

“You're up early kiddo. Didn't sleep well?”

I close the fridge door with my hip, since I have an apple in one hand and a cheese stick in the other. I lean against the counter next to the sink, opening the cheese stick.

“I think I stayed up way too late? I have no idea, I wasn't keeping track of time.”

Shiro finds himself on the other side of the counter facing me. He also grabs an apple from the fridge, but he takes one of the green ones. Disgusting. 

“Is it your new obsession?”

Ugh Shiro can just read me like an open book. Before Tumblr it was the Wii, and before the Wii it was yoga, and before yoga it was the drums. I just can't help it but to 'obsess', as Shiro keeps putting it, over a certain subject for months. I still do yoga and play the drums of course, but it was like my every day activity. The only one that has stuck from the years is writing. 

I take a bite into my cheese stick.

“Yeah it is. Not gonna say what it is though because I'm not even sure what it is?”

Shiro starts to stare at me, with I think it's disgust?

“Keith, did you just bite into that cheese stick, without peeling it?”

Looking down at my cheese stick with the singular bite mark, I sense that this is just another food habit that people don't like. Along with my milk before cereal habit and the ketchup all over my fries habit.

“Yes, yes I did. Does it really matter how I eat certain food?”

Shiro really doesn't look comfortable at all. His lips form a straight line and his eyebrows raise.

“Well, it's just a little off. I'm just having trouble wrapping my head around it that's all. It's just not what everyone else does.”

“I know Shiro. I just don't care how I'm supposed to eat it, I just care that it gets in my mouth.”

I finished the cheese stick and throw the wrapper into the garbage. 

“Also Shiro, when does your Spring Break end?”

Shiro and I both move over to the table, both of us taking our usual seats.

“I have five days left, and I am scheduled to work every day except for the last day. I think we should do something on that day before I have to go back to Ramen mixed with vodka.”

“Is that actually a thing?”

“Yes. It really gets you through a night class.”

I quickly check the time on my phone, and it's almost 6:00. Maybe I can get Shiro to drive me to school and I can go early? I really don't like the bus without Hunk with me.

“Could you drive me to school? Hunk is home sick today and I would rather not with the bus this morning.”

“Sure bud. You just owe me an answer.”

“An answer?”

Oh god not the obsession thing again. It was already hard to tell him I got obsessed with Neko Atsume once upon a time.

“Yes the answer. Why the heck did you come out like that at dinner? Cause like I haven't laughed that hard since you broke the TV with a Wii remote.”

“Oh well um... It sorta just happened? I wasn't really thinking honestly.”

“Amazing. You never cease to amaze me Keith. Now let's get you to school so you can get your naps in before school.”

After I pack my lunch, we both headed towards the garage door, stopping to put our shoes on. Shiro doesn't own a car himself, so he just drives our dad's car when dad isn't using it. Just a plain old silver Honda Civic, which oddly enough fits Shiro in a way.

We both jump in the car and buckle our seat belts. By car it takes about twenty minutes to get to my school if traffic allows it, so of course I open Tumblr to pass the time. First thing I remembered is that León72Azul responded to me last night, but I fell asleep. Their last message was them asking about what my thoughts were on aliens, and if they do exist and such.

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Of course aliens exist. It isn't even the crop circles or the UFO sitings that make me believe. It's the fact that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were the final candidates. Obviously aliens are trying to take down the human race one election at a time._

I'm joking, but also I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case. Shiro from the corner of my eye is judging me silently. 

“You have something to say brother dear?”

“First off, don't ever call me dear ever again, secondly why are you so smiley at your phone?”

My face stiffens.

“I wasn't 'smiley'! I just seen something funny on Facebook.”

Shiro scoffs and he stops at the red light.

“Keith, since when do you scroll through Facebook? Hunk and I practically forced you to get a Facebook.”

“I go on it occasionally sometimes. It's not all that bad.”

Why am I even lying about this to Shiro? Tumblr isn't bad, right?

“Okay captain 'I'm not lying to your only brother'.”

“Shiro, that doesn't even make sense.”

“Keith buddy, if I've learned anything in college, it's that nothing makes sense and the only skill you need in life is pulling stuff out of your ass.”

In no time we arrive to my school, in which it's 6:28. Shiro waves me off without giving me shit for once, and I make my way towards Hunk and I's table in the lunch room. I'll just sit here for the next hour and a half on Tumblr. Why am I like this?

I open up my VPN, then I continue onto Tumblr where León72Azul has already responded back to me.

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Lmao buurrnnn!! Does that mean you also live in the US?? Cause like I live in boring old Wisconsin. The only good thing we have here is cheese tbh_

Why are they giving out such personal information like that? I mean, I don't know exactly where they live, and they don't know exactly where I live, so giving out states shouldn't be a problem? 

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Yeah I do. Texas. I hate the heat here the most since I just want to wear jackets all the time._

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Do you have a Texan accent?? Like wowie a real Texan right in front of me. Or well not in front of me, but you get what I mean._

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _No I don't, or at least I don't think I do? My friend the other day just says I am gloomy and depressing, so maybe that's my accent?_

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Whaattt no you couldn't be gloomy and depressing. Cause like according to your Tumblr you are more soul crushing and wise. Gotta love my sarcasm lmao_  
**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _OH but like how do they treat LGBT people down there?? Is it really that bad??_

Honestly I tend to forget I live in the most anti LGBT state. I'm really a terrible source for this.

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _To be honest I am gay and I can't even tell you. I just came out to my parents last night and they were okay with it, but I wouldn't even dare come out at school just because I don't want to be seen at school. I've never seen anything terrible, but I'm a shut in so I'm not a good source for that. Sorry._

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _No that's okay!! I was just curious. I'm personally Bisexual and I'm out to my family, friends, and school. I just can't imagine trying to hide who I am I guess Tho congrats on coming out to your family!!!!!! I am proud of you :)_

My heart starts to race and my cheeks are for sure red. Aside from my family and Hunk's family, I don't think anyone has ever said they were proud of me??? I don't even know this persons name, let alone gender or age, but I want to get to know them more.

* * *

Somehow our conversation shifted to Bigfoot, not that I'm complaining since Bigfoot is my son, but we texted each other for hours. It was hard trying to sneak my phone in class, but I managed to not get it taken away. It's Lunch now, and Azul, I decided to call him, hasn't texted back and it has been a half hour. I really shouldn't be getting bent out of shape over this, but now I'm worried. I have all of Lunch to focus on eating and posting things to Tumblr, and hopefully, they will get back to me.

But I can't help but check every two minutes to check if they texted back.

I keep staring at the last thing I texted them.

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Um excuse you Bigfoot is real. Not a conspiracy. I will meet them one day._

I didn't come off too strong did I? I mean I feel comfortable joking around, but maybe they took me too seriously? Like of course I believe in Bigfoot, but I don't think I'm actually gonna meet him. Am I possibly pushing them away?

I squeeze out barbecue from the school sauce packet a little too hard, and it splatters all over the singular table. If Hunk was here it would have gotten all over him. Why do I care so much?

My phone was on the table, and luckily the barbecue didn't reach it. I, of course, checked it again because I am on the edge. There is no password on my phone and my Tumblr is already open, so all I had to do is refresh... They responded.

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Surrrreee you will just be meeting some really old dude with really big feet. Besides, maybe Bigfoot has passed away?? Like what if he was real and like died yesterday? We will never know._

Okay, now I am officially pissed off.

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Don't you dare even say that. Take it back. Bigfoot is alive and well and they are waiting for me._

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Okkkk fine Bigfoot is your son and you love them very much. Sorry to question your love and assume Bigfoot isn't dead and is very much real._

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _I accept your apology. Now what took you so long? You tend to respond it minutes and triple text._

Maybe I am being a little intrusive, but that was odd. This is the first time they haven't responded right away in the midst of talking to each other.

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _OH my teacher took away my phone. He caught me bc I snorted at a meme while scrolling through Tumblr. Oopsie._

Are they also in high school? Oh god what if they were in middle school? I mean there isn't anything wrong with that, it's just kinda weird. Maybe even college? Though it sounds like college professors don't give a shit.

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Are you in high school as well?_

Such a dumb question, but I just have to know. I have already told this person my thoughts on many conspiracy theories and that I'm gay, so I feel like I have the right to know. 

I pack a lunch every morning because I absolutely hate school food with a passion. Not even the fries are good. Generally, it's a sandwich of some sort along with a fruit or vegetable, then like goldfish crackers and a pudding cup. Sometimes I just bring a Lunchable because I am lazy and Lunchables are my weakness. There is also whatever Hunk is having, since he tends to over pack his lunch and I sometimes have parts of it. Once he brought an entire turkey before the fall break, and another time he brought an entire pot of spaghetti. How I wish it was one of those days.

My notifications I turned off the other night, but I think I should tweak them a bit since I don't get notified when Azul texts me. So, therefore, I switched up my notifications to where I don't see who likes and reblogs my things, while everything else gives me notifications. Beautiful.

My phone vibrates, notifying me that Azul has sent me a message.

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Yep! I am currently a Junior and 16!!_  
**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _What about you??_

Oh jeez am I actually making a friend? I can't handle this alone I need Hunk. Good thing I have service where Hunk and I sit every day. I make the executive decision to call Hunk.

“......Keith?”

“Why are you friends with me again?”

“Okay first off you woke me from my nap, and secondly we met in third grade when you moved here and I was interested in your Lion King backpack.”

“Oh... right. But like I'm not particularly fun to be around and I'm just confused on how to make friends and how I should be.”

“Keeeiittthhh we've been over this. You are fun and a good friend to have. The trick is to just be yourself and the right people will come along. No need to be working up a sweat over this.”

“Easy for you to say. Like half of the school says hi to you in the halls. Some of my teachers forget my name and call me Kent.”

“I'm just saying Kent that people will like you for you. If they don't then obviously you don't want them in your life, right?”

“I guess... But like when can one determine friendship? Like when do people mutually agree that they are friends and such?”

“Kent relax-”

“Stop calling me Kent.”

“Sorry Kenny. Again, just be yourself and have a good time just being around the person and talking to them. I'm sure you will know when to call it friendship.”

“Okay... thanks Hank. I hope you are feeling better for tomorrow because I am not sitting here alone again!”

“I am already feeling a bit better so no worries! See ya Kirby!”

With that, Hunk hangs up first. Hunk is a true blessing in my life and I am forever grateful of him. I guess I'll just respond.

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Same, though I am 17._

Okay, so far you have told Azul that you are a gay 16 year old from Texas. Lovely. 

My phone vibrates again, and it isn't Azul messaging me back? Instead, it's a notification that Azul tagged me in a post. 

[LINK](https://lance-sightings.tumblr.com/post/159024600169/wait-a-minute)

It's so short and just an insignificant Illuminati sighting, but I appreciate the comment Azul left for me.

> _León72Azul: Lmao this is @Red_Red_Red when they first discovered Tumblr haha_

Should I find something and tag him back? Like how do I even respond to this? Maybe I should show I feel through another one of my crappy poems? Yeah, that sounds just cringey but that's all I got. Maybe that will drop the hint I want to be friends with them? Opening the new post button, I start writing down what's in my head.

> _My greatest fear is the unknown. I am fascinated by it, yet weary of what the unknown has in store for me._

Not really a poem honestly, but a cryptic aesthetic message that I find on here all the time. Maybe I should make it an image with these words on it? Yeah that sounds perfect. I download a random app and work my magic. I made it space themed, with a white wispy looking font. I saved the picture, and I posted it with just tagging Azul in it along with my usual tags. Like I said before, hopefully I'm not coming on too strong for them.

I take my time to finish my lunch, too nervous to check if Azul has even messaged me back after the whole post thing that I did. I practically mauled my ham and cheese sandwich and I ate my pudding cup before my carrots. Was I always this neurotic? Anyways, I throw away my lunch garbage and put away my Lunch bag.

Okay Keith, time to face Azul.

My phone has two notifications, both from Azul.

One of them is from ten minutes ago

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Awww such a baby!! It's okay you will grow up to be all big and strong like me one day!!!!_

The second one is from four minutes ago.

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _OMG YOU WROTE A POEM THINGING FOR ME???????????? LIKE WOWIE I AM HONORED!!!!!!!!!!! I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU ITS MY PUNS AND QUOTES FROM SHOWS NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN HI I AM LANCE :DDDD_

What have I done?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayeee yoooo long time no see. I just figured out how AO3 works lowkey and now I can format my works better! Thanks for reading guys!!


	4. Pidgey, I Choose You!

“LANCE I SWEAR I AM GOING TO KILL YOU.”

Just another Tuesday for Lance McClain Rivera. I was just sitting in class, waiting for the bell to ring like the good student I am, when Pidge decides it was a good idea to come in screaming in my face.

“Good Afternoon Pidgey. My secretary will take your complaint and I will get back-”

Pidge kicks the stool I was sitting on hard, and I would have fell to the floor if I hadn't stood up when I did. The stool bangs on the linoleum floor with a screech that the people already in the room turn and stare at Pidge and I. 

“I'm going to kick your ass Rivera! You left your energy drink at my house last night which resulted in it tipping over and destroying my robotics project!”

Energy drink? I don't drink energy drinks?

“Pidge, I don't drink that crap. Maybe you should talk to Matt maybe?”

Pidge stares me down with a harsh glare. Their glasses are slightly disheveled and their bags from the night before are still very relevant. After the five longest seconds of my life, Pidge's face softens into a grimace.

“I'm going to kill Matt once in for all.”

Pidge was nice enough to pick up my stool before sitting down in their own seat next to me. We both only have AP Physics II together. Pidge is two years younger than me, but since they are a prodigy child and my neighbor we've been best friends since Pidge could crawl and I could walk. 

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and my heart speeds up. I've been talking to Red practically all night last night, and all of this morning. I even got them to write something for me?? My entire Spanish class can confirm that I died.

I set up a stack of books and folders to have somewhat of a cover, and I pull out my phone. Red did respond!

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Keith. All I have to offer is Pokemon trivia and conspiracies._

Keith... So they're a dude?

“You know Lance, maybe you would have better grades if you payed attention in class, have you ever thought of that?”

Pidge shouldn't be one to talk. I've seen them completely ignore the teacher and work on their 'projects'.

“Maybe, but this is more important as of right now Pidgey.”

Out of the corner of my eye I sense the teacher is getting suspicious, so I tuck my phone between my thighs. 

“Pidgey, please stop blowing my covers. It's annoying.”

The teacher looks away again and continues with his lesson on magnetism. Been there, done that.

“What covers have I blown?”

“Well, for starters you can't be my Pidgey whenever I'm trying to flirt with someone.”

“Pidgey?”

“Can't be my wing man nor my wing woman, so you are just Pidgey forever in my heart. A small angry looking bird.”

Pidge smirks and turns back to their newest project. I can smell the energy drink coming off of it, and right now they are replacing certain parts that are destroyed. All the teachers don't mess with Pidge when they are working on a new project since Pidge is for sure the valedictorian of my class. I mean I definitely could also work for that spot if I didn't do that one prank on the vice principle. 

Then again Pidgey deserves the spotlight, so I'll let them have it.

My phone buzzes again, reminding me that I have a new friend. I slowly take my phone out between my thighs, and unlock to find Red has messaged me again.

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Do you think I'm weird?_

Oh my god... This kid is so adorable I must protect him. 

**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _I LOVE POKEMON AND CONSPIRACIES. YOU ARE ALSO REALLY WEIRD LIKE ME SO IT'S OKAY_

I hope that answers his question. 

I start scrolling though Tumblr again waiting for his response, Keith's response to be exact, and I stumbled across the image that he tagged me in again. I still can't believe he wrote this for me? I already made it the background on my phone since gosh why wouldn't I? Everything Keith writes is so deep and beautiful. I need to make a shout out post stat. 

My heart practically bursts out of my chest when my phone buzzes and I see what Keith has messaged me back.

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Thanks :) I don't have many friends and I honestly have a hard time seeing if people like me._

OH NO. HE IS CUTER THAN PLANNED SHIT.

“Lance please quiet down if you are going to be on your phone the entire time.”

Looking up I see the entire class is staring in my direction, except for Pidge because they are too preoccupied by their project than my humiliation.

“Sorry Mr. Altea.”

Oh how much I want to become Patrick Star right now.

* * *

“Okay so here is the game plan. You grab Matt and pin him down to the couch and I'll attack him with silly string, he hates that stuff.”

After school couldn't come soon enough. Too many things have happened today and I just want to go home and die. Not actually die, but sometimes I do feel like dying. 

“Pidgey, you know Matt doesn't trust me enough to even be within five feet of him. I don't think I can pin him down in time since he is always suspicious around me.”

Pidge and I live a mile away from school, but we walk home anyways. It's not like there is any city traffic around here or else Pidge would become Pidge-gone. Get it? Pigeon, Pidge-Gone? That one was terrible, sorry not sorry. 

Anyways, I live on a farm while Pidge lives right on the edge of the suburbs that is close to my family's farm. So technically speaking we are neighbors since Pidge is the closest to us. I have to keep walking about another mile or so to my house after I walk Pidge home. Most of the time though I hang out with Pidge and their mom drives me back when it gets dark out. 

“Okay then how about I pin him down and you silly spray him?”

“That sounds a lot better, but with what weight would you pin him down with?”

“You can tie some weights on me.”

“Perfecto.”

We just got out of school grounds, so now I can access Tumblr no problemo. As much as I would love to enact on Pidge's idea of revenge, I really want to get back to knowing Keith more.

So far I've learned that Keith is a city boy who is the original emo kid. He cried for a week Straight when My Chemical Romance broke up and got over them by becoming a closeted Taylor Swift fan, which oddly enough I am also a Taylor Swift fan but I'm more open about it. I also found that Mothman was his husband and that he can't remember the last time he had a haircut. I really have no idea how all of that information came out and somehow connected, but hey so far this kid is perfect. 

I've had other friends aside from Pidge yes, but they only stuck around for a few months before switching up. Keith already feels so different?

“Yo lover boy did you hear anything I just said?”

I snap back to reality and Pidge and I are already in the suburbs?

“Um yeah. The whole Matt revenge thing you are planning.”

“Lance, I was talking about Allura.”

“Oh have you made any progress with her at all?”

Pidge has had a crush on a girl named Allura since forever. She is a year above us, but regardless she talks to everyone. She is also Mr. Altea's niece, making her show up to Pidge and I's class from time to time. I don't have the heart to tell Pidge that Allura probably isn't interested, but I can't break this kid's heart.

“Today while you were preoccupied with your phone at lunch I decided to talk to her. She has some rodents that she is trying to train. I offered my assistance but she declined. She is so perfect like...”

I zoned out again since I want to just focus on what Keith is telling me.

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _I just looked up what a mullet is. I think that's what I have?_

So precious. So pure. But a mullet??

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Normally I would say shave it off, but even though I have no idea what you look like I bet it suits you perfectly with your outer emo glory_

Maybe I am too much of a dreamer and a little over dramatic, but do I have a crush on Keith? I would never condone a mullet yet here I am accepting it? I have no idea what he looks like though... then again looks shouldn't matter. Would it be weird to swap pictures?

What if he is actually a 100 year old man who is cat fishing me?

“Lance, you are worried about something.”

Pidge stopped and grabbed my arm. Even though Pidge can't take a hint, they can see how I'm feeling no matter what.

“Well, you know how I've been telling you about Red right?”

“Yeah, that person you have been talking to since last night?”

“Yeah them... Well I've been talking to them more and I think I'm developing a crush on them?”

Pidge goes silent for a split second. They look like they are trying to formulate a computer code or something.

“Like an actual crush? Not a 'I'm a Rivera and I hit on anything that walks' crush?”

Is it genuine? I've always have based my interests on looks, but I don't even have a mental image this time around. Honestly I just keep imagining Grumpy Cat, then I shift to the new emo image that Keith put up... Maybe that's him?

“I think so? I don't want to immediately assume that it is though since it's all so new, but I can't help the jumps in my chest or constantly replying to him whenever my phone vibrates. Which by the way, his name is Keith.”

“Wow... I've known you forever and you've never been serious about relationships. I'm glad you can differentiate between the two.”

But what is the difference between all my past relationships and Keith? 

My phone lights up and Pidge leans over my shoulder to see what Keith has sent me.

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Thanks I guess? I have no idea what you look like either but I bet you are bald, you hair hater._

“You know Lance, this would be a good time to send a selfie.”

“What?? No way! I don't want to pressure him to send one back.”

“Then hint it at him to see if he will agree.”

My nose scrunches up at how Pidge can push me to do anything. I formulate a response in my head, and carefully plan out my words.

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Lmao I guess you'll never know... Or will you??_

I pocket my phone and Pidge and I continue to walk. We pass all the unique houses, including Pidge and I's favorite house which is covered in vines and other plants. One thing about where I live is that everything is unique no matter what. There is no repeats or bland spots here. 

We make it all the way to Pidge's house, and Keith still hasn't responded. I won't worry though, because he could be busy for all I know.

Pidge starts screaming when they found out nobody was home. Pidge loves three things:

1\. Computers  
2\. Food  
3\. Screaming

Therefore they will be playing League while I'll be texting Keith and making my next DIY. We don't have to talk to each other to enjoy each others company which I find beautiful.

My next DIY is how to make a bag with yarn. It requires a lot of braiding, but it's incredibly fun. I'm planning on making it Star Wars themed so I can give it to Matt for his birthday next month. I learned how to do this from my sister Mariana who learned from her art teacher.

I grab the stash of yarn that I put in Pidge's room and grab black, white, blue, and yellow yarn. The tedious part is the measuring part, but taking the pictures in between each step helps out on the frustration. 

Pidge already has their headset on and is immersed in a game, so I reach over to the record player that Matt got Pidge two years ago and put on The Beatles. It has the top 20 best songs on it, and 'She Loves You' starts to play. 

For the next hour both Pidge and I go about our business, only exchanging words when Pidge was thirsty and wanted me to get them something. I finished the bag within that hour, but honestly it would take majority of people some hours first try. I have made three of these previously before.

Keith hasn't texted back, so now I'm worrying about him. I almost want to text him again in case he just hasn't seen what I sent, but I don't want to be pushy or annoying. 

And that's when my phone buzzed to life.

I don't think I've ever opened my phone that fast (aside from that one time I seen there will be a fifth Shrek movie) and I practically drink in what Keith had sent.

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Sorry for the late reply my phone died and there is no outlet on the bus. Also you are totally bald I can sense it._

My body relaxes and all the tension from slouching all day is released. His phone just died, that's all. But what am I going to do now? I can't just straight up ask him to see his face. I need him to address the issue, but how? 

I was about to ask Pidge for more advice, but my phone buzzes again. Did Keith just double text???

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _But I guess I'll never know unless I see you_

OH MY GOD DID THIS KID JUST???

“PIDGEY I NEED HELP.” 

Pidge wasn't on the computer anymore oddly enough, but instead was writing on a piece of paper of some sort. 

“It's Keith again, isn't it?”

I nod my head a little to enthusiastic.

“Look at this shit I can't believe this.”

Pidge reads what Keith sent and doesn't react at all. Instead they return to what they were doing previously.

“Um, where is that advice?”

“You know that is clear wording that he wants a picture of you Lance. Just take the damn selfie and send it to him.”

The best and worst thing about Pidge is that they are the most blunt person I know.

“...Fine.”

I open my photo album and try to find a good selfie of myself from the previous week. Maybe I should use the one where I had bunny ears? NO even better the flower crown. That filter always brings out my eyes and gives my skin glory. At the time I was in the barn at 4:00 in the morning milking the cows and I wanted to see if I could get a filter on Kaltenecker, which worked by the way. In the picture it even looks like Kaltenecker was smiling, so if that isn't goals I don't know what is. 

Opening up Keith and I's chat I pick that selfie. And I send it along with a caption.

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Now you do ;) Not bald at all_

Okay, so I did that. I'm surprisingly calm? Or maybe I fried all my nerves today and I just need some sleep. It's not even 7:00 yet, but I can sleep for a week.

Shortly after sending that, Mr. Holt and Matt return home, and Pidge takes the opportunity to start yelling at Matt for the energy drink incident. While Matt starts getting Pidge's furious hands, Mr. Holt, or Samuel he keeps telling me to call him, strikes up a conversation.

“Lance are you sure it wasn't your energy drink?”

“Nope. I can't stand energy drinks let alone Monsters. I'm more of a tea and water kind of guy.”

I help Samuel with the groceries that Matt and him brought home, while Pidge is wrestling Matt to the ground. Matt could easily fight Pidge off and win, but of course he never does. Samuel and I were almost done with putting things away when Mrs. Holt comes in with a tired expression. She is one of the head doctors at the hospital and generally has late hours when she works, so her being this early is a great surprise. Pidge stops the choke hold they had on Matt and jumps up to greet their mom with a hug.

“You're home early!”

Matt scrambles to hug her as well, and Samuel and I join in because why not? 

I feel my phone buzz in my pocket and I break the hug first, in which everyone follows. I feel bad, but I have to know what Keith has sent back! Mrs. Holt continues to talk to Samuel and Matt while Pidge is cleaning up the living room since they are a small tornado. I head towards the bathroom, because honestly I might just scream from how jumpy I feel. 

I pass the family photos along with some photos of me and Pidge when we were younger, and I duck into the bathroom before Pidge notices I'm gone. I take a moment to breathe on the toilet before I unlock my phone and see what Keith has sent me. Tumblr takes a long ass time to load, but when it finally does I scream.

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Oh wow not bald, just a pretty boy as my mom would call you. Now tell me, is this really a mullet?_

A picture of Keith with the dog filter was graced upon me. He has longish black hair that falls at his shoulders nicely, and the brightest eyes I have ever seen. In this picture he is placed in front of a sunset along with a backyard kind of setting. But what really tops off this picture is that _smile_. Oh god that smile shows how shy this kid is, but it brings out his personality along with it. I have never had this strong of an urge to smother someone. 

“Lance are you okay??”

“NO PIDGE I AM NOT. I AM BROKEN.”

I open the door to let Pidge in, and show them the picture of Keith.

“Wow he is pretty.”

“Right?? How do I respond? I think he might be flirting with me but I have no idea since I can't see his face???”

“Hush child. Just say he does have a mullet and give him one of your pickup lines. Why are you making this so difficult?”

“Okay Pidge, then how about you just ask Allura on a date hmm? Why are you making this so difficult?”

Pidge elbows me in the arm and saunters off back into the living room. I hit a nerve there oops. I save the picture of Keith, and run through all the scenarios and finally decide on the sentence.

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _WHAATTT YOU ARE THE PRETTY BOY HERE MR. MULLET. IF YOU WERE A BOOGER I WOULD PICK YOU FIRST <333_

I finally come out of the bathroom after splashing water on my face. I have no idea why people in the movies do that because that didn't help at all?? 

Figuring it was time for me to leave, I grab the bag I made and stuff it in my backpack. Mrs. Holt was standing by the door along with Pidge waiting for me, and we all proceed to the infamous mom van. 

It doesn't even take five minutes to get to my house, and both Pidge and Mrs. Holt wave goodbye as I walk up to the front door. The farm I live on is only livestock, but we do have our own family garden as well. Between all of my siblings and both of my parents we take care of all the animals and other chores around the house, which means that I have to do the dishes tonight and check the barn to see if all the animals are okay for the night. We have cows, chickens, and horses. Not a slaughter house here!

Walking in I see my little brother Diego playing with plastic dinosaurs in the living room to the right of me, and to the left I see my older brother Jonesy typing away furiously on a laptop in the dining room. He stops typing and looks up in my direction.

“Hey Lance, do you know what happened to the newspaper this morning?”

“Oh yeah I took it for a project. Do you need another job again? You know you have a laptop where you can look up jobs.”

Jonesy squints his eyes and furrows his eyebrows.

“You know, you could be a little nicer.”

“Could be, but you didn't raise me to be like that.”

He continues to type on the laptop, which I wouldn't be surprised if it's his resume again. 

I head up stairs to my room so I can drop off my bag and grab my charger so I can listen to music while I do the dishes. I peak into Mariana's room to find her doing her homework on her bed, and I peak into Rex's room which is empty. He is probably either still out with Noah or is working on his bike in the garage. I have no idea where my parents are, but I'm sure they're fine like usual. 

Missed dinner again like I usually do since I practically hang out at Pidge's every day. Good thing we always have leftovers. I grab out what we had which was ham, baked potatoes, and corn. I only grab the potato and corn, because fun fact I have been a vegetarian since seventh grade! I had nightmares about Kaltenecker for a week once I went on a field trip with my school to a meat packing factory.

While my food heats up, I start to organize the dishes since some people coughJonesycough like to just throw plates everywhere. There isn't as much as there usually is surprisingly, but compared to a normal household this is a lot. 

Before I could even touch a plate, my thigh feels the vibration of my phone for the hundredth time today. I ignore the sound of the microwave, the roars that Diego is making, the clicking of Jonesy's laptop, and I just focus on my phone. 

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _First you call me pretty and then you call me a booger? I'm confused as to if you are flirting or insulting me._

Where is all this sass coming from?? I wanna bet that he has a friend helping him out on what to say. But wait... If he has a friend helping him out, does this mean he also like likes me?? I've known him for about a good 24 hours, but from just the way he talks about his conspiracies to how he has to have perfect punctuation, I already like him a lot. 

Should I say that I am flirting, or do I work on our friendship more and say I was just joking?

As my mama always said, follow what your heart desires.

This means I should put my game face on and go for it, more specifically go for Keith.

**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Maybe I am flirting ;)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe you guys can figure out who Lance's siblings are >.>


	5. RIP Keith

> _ Hey guys! Welcome Back to Another DIY! _
> 
> _Today I'm going to tell you guys how to make the perfect pickup line!_
> 
> _I know what you are thinking, just take the ones you already know and execute them like normal._
> 
> _I used to be sad and uncreative just like you lot, but that's okay! Just follow my easy instructions and you will be getting numbers on business cards by the end of this!_
> 
> _ 1\. What is the person's unique quality? _
> 
> _What I mean by this is you need to find an outstanding feature and make sure you implement that feature. This doesn't have to be a physical trait, but it can also be a personality trait!_
> 
> _For instance, if you know the person you are courting is a Disney fan, you can use the old “Be the Beauty to my Beast” style of pickup lines. Sports fan? “So which way do you swing?”._
> 
> _Limitless possibilities._
> 
> _ 2\. Always make the pickup line a question or a statement.. _
> 
> _You need a response or else it's game over. Mainly stick to the question lines because the statement lines are harder to execute. You need that confidence in order to use them, so hold on tiger. An example of a statement line would be “We're like Little Caesars, Hot and Ready”._
> 
> _Again, do not try statement lines unless you are confident enough._
> 
> _ 3\. C&C _
> 
> _Creativity and Confidence is key. If you don't have at least one of the two you will fail I promise you that._
> 
> _And that is how you create the perfect pickup line! Follow these three steps and I can guarantee you will have a date by the end of the week._
> 
> _Until next time, Azul out!_

I found myself searching how to do a pickup line, and surprise surprise Lance has already made a post on this. It's been two hours since Lance has sent me that message, and I have been dying in my room about it. Did I have homework? I have no idea since I was focused on Lance the entire day.

I pretty much screamed when my phone died when I was on the bus earlier today. I had no Hunk nor Lance to entertain me, and I had to reduce myself to staring off into space while hating myself. I pretty much hinted at Lance that I was interested in seeing his face, which is enough of a reason to hate myself. Like what if he actually sends one? Or worse.

What if he is hot?

And he was in fact extremely hot. When I got home and plugged my phone in I received Lance's picture which included flower crowns and a cow. I melted. 

His eyes glowed such a bright blue and he has flawless skin. Seriously, who has that perfect of skin? I did what I usually did when I panicked and called Hunk to help me, but he didn't answer.

So, I found myself running across the street with both my charger and phone.

Hunk was still a little sick from this morning, but he was nice enough to help me anyways. He pretty much told me how to respond from there on out. I told Hunk what I wanted to say, and he put my mess of words into a sentence. Now usually I'm amazing at that, but apparently not when it comes to talking to people. 

He also showed me how to do a proper 'selfie'. We went into his backyard and after five photos we got a pretty decent one. I was completely against the dog filter, but Hunk insisted that if I didn't do the dog filter that I wouldn't be receiving his help for the rest of the night. 

What really finished me off though? The fact that Lance insinuated that he was flirting with me. 

Hunk eventually had to kick me out after having dinner at his place, and I've been searching the internet for an answer back to Lance, and now that I have Lance's guide to pick up lines I can finally respond.

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Well, if that's the case... Are you an ocean? Because your eyes are as deep as my interest in you._

I think that's how you do pick up lines? Either way, I am increasingly close to punching the wall for how much I'm embarrassed. This is incredibly unlike me and I don't think I can sleep. I really need Hunk, but he has already done so much for me today... So I guess it's time for me to tell Shiro everything.

It's a little past 10:00, and it's pitch black outside aside from the street lamps. By now both of my parents should be in bed along with Shiro. Most likely he is still up since he has a horrendous sleeping schedule.

My door creaks as I open my door slightly, and I tip toe over to the room that is next to me. My parents room is across from Shiro's, so I lightly knock on Shiro's door.

“Come in.”

Shiro's door doesn't creak luckily, so I slide in fast and shut the door behind me quietly. Shiro is sitting on his bed surrounded with papers and binders. He must have been doing college homework.

“Hey Keith. What do you need?”

“I ah... Have to rant to you because I'm freaking out and can't sleep this out of me.”

Shiro runs a hand through his black hair, and starts to clean up his bed. Cleaning up meaning he pushed all the stuff onto one side of the bed just so I could sit down. I sit down on the foot of his bed, making sure I don't sit on any of his college work. Shiro stares me down, making me feel like I'm about to tell him I'm breaking up with him.

“Okay so... I may or may not have a crush on someone?”

I feel a hand on my back, and I face Shiro to find his face... excited?”

“I need a picture NOW Keith.”

“Um...why?”

Shiro shifts himself on the bed, and he grabs two pillows. He shoves one on my lap, and he hugs the other one. 

“We are going to have a boys night where we talk about cute boys and other problems we are facing. Now, I need a picture and a back story right now or else we are starting the pillow fight.”

The pillow fight sounds tempting, but I actually want to talk about Lance to Shiro. I pull up the selfie of Lance that I saved from earlier and I gave my phone to Shiro. 

“Wowie. At least you don't have a bad taste in men. I think that cow is smiling?”

“Thanks I guess? His name is Lance. He lives in Wisconsin and he has four siblings and they all live on a farm. He is on the swim team, and he wants to do actual rocket science! Like create legit things for space! That's so cool isn't it?? Also, I met him through Tumblr.”

“Woah slow down there Keith. It sounds like you really do have a crush on him! Also, follow me on Tumblr.”

“Wait, you have a Tumblr?”

“Have I been living under a rock? No shit I have a Tumblr Keith. I'm a sad college student who suffers everyday of their life. It's like required of me to have a Tumblr.”

Shiro inputs his username which is 'dadboi01' and I follow him. From just the first couple of posts, his blog has no structure and it's filled with memes. Shiro also forces me to give him Lance's Tumblr, and he starts hugging the pillow closer every time I tell him a new detail. I start from when Hunk introduced me to Tumblr, to the conspiracy post, to every single text we have sent each other. I of course, finish with the shitty pick up line.

“You, Keith Shirogane, have sent some one a pick up line?”

“Shut up! What else was I supposed to do?

“Marry him.”

“SHIRO.”

We freeze when we hear light knocking on the door. Our mom pops her head in, and from what she looks like she hasn't gone to bed yet.

“You guys doing alright?”

Shiro was nice enough to speak first, since I'm terrified that she overheard Shiro telling me to marry someone.

“Oh, we were just having a bonding moment. I'll make sure Keith gets to bed before midnight.”

Our mom gives us 'the mom look' before leaving with a sigh. I finally breathed in and relaxed a bit. Shiro takes the pillow I was holding along with his own and sets them in their respected spots.

“You know Keith, I think he likes you back.”

“What?”

Shiro is still trying to clean the bed a bit, but he continues speaking anyways.

“From the chat logs you have shown me I believe that he also has a crush on you. You should give him a chance and try asking him out. Though the long distance will be hard, I think you guys will persevere the challenges. I'm proud of you.” 

Shiro seals his words with a side hug. I hug him back, but with an actual hug. Maybe it's best if I go to bed now with this fuzzy feeling in my head. I leave without anymore word exchanges, and once my head hit the pillow, I was out.

* * *

The funny thing about sleep is that it feels like you were laying down for a second, and then suddenly you wake up to your alarm seven hours later. I wish I could sleep for a year so then it feels like seven hours. Maybe.

Instead of waking up early like I did yesterday, I woke to my 6:00 alarm like I'm supposed to. The first thing I noticed instead of my alarm was that I was starving. That was an exaggeration, but still I need food right now. I can't cheat on my usual schedule, so I'll have to take a quick shower and then quickly run downstairs for something.

I did in fact take a really fast shower. Five minutes to be exact. I didn't completely dry myself off, so when I was putting on clothes I had certain wet spots in random areas. It will dry before I get to Hunk's. I grab my essentials like my wallet, keys, phone, and backpack and rush down the stairs to find something I can shove in my mouth quick.

My mom should have left by now, and Shiro and dad are probably still sleeping, so I make myself descend the stairs a little slower. The kitchen was quiet yet quaint. Almost like the kitchen itself is trying to wake up. I found myself in the mood for oatmeal, therefore I grab a bag of it and start to eat the dry oatmeal from the pouch. I also was in the mood for another cheese stick and apple, so I grab those things from the fridge as well. I'm not in the mood for making a lunch, so I grab a pizza Lunchable and some chips and threw those in my lunch bag. It's 6:17 and I don't have to be at Hunk's until 6:35, so I should-

Oh no.

I completely forgot.

I messaged Lance that shitty pick up line and now I want to die. 

I turn my phone back on, and sure enough Lance did respond. I sit down in the living room and breathe before I opened what he said... He responded at two in the morning??

**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _I am so fucking tired right now but I'm going to go ahead and say it before I lose my confidence. That pickup line was the most beautiful thing I have ever read and I can't help but to find you cute in every way. I know we've only known each other for like 48 hours or some shit but man you are so perfect and handsome and funny I want to die. So like can I please somehow take you on a date because holy guac you are such an amazing person. I'm sorry if this sounds so weird but I just really want to get to know you more and ugh I'm just gonna shut up and go back to sleep. Sorry again._

My mind goes blank. My body goes limp. My heart races. My skin heats up.

Shiro was right.

Lance liked me back... WAIT LANCE LIKES ME BACK WHAT DO I DO???

The thought that my family was still sleeping was irrelevant when I ran up the stairs and almost busted Shiro's door open. He was sleeping, and all of his homework was still on the bed strewn everywhere.

“SHIRO WAKE UP AND HELP ME.”

“Hmmm... Five more minutes.”

He turns in his bed, making a textbook fall to the ground.

“Please? I don't know what to do, I'm freaking out, and you have an older brother requirement to fulfill!”

I kept shaking him as I spouted guilt tripping things to him, and it worked because he sat up. Granted he was groggy, but that will do.

“M'kay... what's going on?”

“Look at THIS.”

I show Shiro my phone with the long Lance message. It took him longer to read since he is extremely out of it, but he chuckles and hands back my phone.

“Told you so. Just send back what you feel Keith. You're good at that when it comes to writing.”

Shiro lays back down, but in the process he pushes everything off the bed making a huge avalanche of education. 

“Now, let me have ten more minutes before I have to get ready.”

Some brother I have. He will regret this later.

Sorry Hunk, but I need you.

I'm thirteen minutes early, which kinda violates some code of honor out there I'm sure. I don't knock and I waltz into the Garrett household, and I try to calmly place myself on the couch, but I can't help my bouncing leg or my endless finger tapping. 

Hunk comes down the stairs three minutes later. I can tell he was off when he seen me, but he came back from that and sat down next to me.

“So you're early. I'm guessing that your nerves are fried and that this has 110% have something to do with Lance.”

I nod furiously. As Hunk is packing his lunch, I rant to him about everything Lance said in his late night response. In between me ranting he gives signals that he is still listening. This goes on for five minutes, when I stopped talking.

“You done Keith?”

“Yeah, for now at least.”

“Okay, let's walk and talk.”

Hunk locks the door before we start walking to the bus stop. It's silent between us, until we rounded the corner out of our neighborhood. 

“Now Keith, if I give you advice right now I want you to follow it. No arguing me on this one, okay?”

Hunk asking for no arguing is a given, but the way he said this sounds serious. I know whatever he has to say is important, so I nod. Hunk doesn't look at me, but instead stares up into the slightly cloudy sky.

“I believe that you don't need my help on this. Out of everyone in the entire school you are the best person when it comes to writing. I know you are scared for what could happen with Lance, but you should see Lance more as a new adventure. I say take whatever risks you're willing to take and respond with how you feel.”

I was going to refute, but from what Hunk said before I was prohibited.

“Okay. Thanks Hunk.”

He does a slight nod in my direction, and it's silence the rest of the way to the bus stop. We stand there waiting for the 6:50 bus, and I made the executive decision to write down everything on my mind. This time is different though. This time I will write it all to Lance.

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Honestly I'm confused as to why anyone would like me. I'm extremely introverted and I tend to make people cringe. I am really scared, but I think it's safe to say that I like you too. I'm not familiar with that whole 'dating' thing, but I like the idea of trying. I like your optimistic attitude and how you always text me with smiles and exclamation points at the end of things that aren't that exciting. The fact that you always respond back no matter what stupid things I write, and that you got a cow to smile into a camera. You are a Disney Prince I swear. How about we Skype or something? Not really much for us to do long distance except Skype, but maybe we can make it work?_

I sent that without asking for Hunk to check it. I think from now on I'm going to 'follow my heart' as people have been telling me. The bus pulls up to us, so we hop aboard the death contraption Hunk's mom always says. Our seats were taken today, so we sit right behind our usual. Hunk starts up a conversation about if he missed anything at school, in which I reply that he missed tater tot day. This continues on for a while. Just Hunk and I talking about the miscellaneous. Hunk was showing me his new Lapras when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I wanted to vomit, to disappear and ignore my phone's silent cry to be picked up. 

My phone was now in my hand, and I already forget how it ended up there in the first place. Hunk nudges me with his shoulder, giving me a warm smile before he looks back at his own phone. I open my phone to see Lance's response. 

**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Are you trying to kill me Keith?? Like wowie I had to stop and cry to my friend Pidge because damn I wasn't expecting you to agree?? You say you have no idea why I would like you, but dang is all I can say?? You have made me, Lance, speechless. I AM NOT KNOWN TO BE SPEECHLESS MISTER. So you are pretty amazing if you ask me. If you aren't doing anything tonight we could have dinner over Skype ;)) Then like after that we can determine if we want to keep this going?? Though I gotta warn you I am a messy eater, so sorry in advance if I have pizza sauce all over me._

Hunk noticed me being a hot mess, so he presses his water bottle against my face to help me cool down. Hunk was nice enough to not ask questions.

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _So pizza dinner and Skype? I guess it's a date... :)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School is kicking my ass, but I wanted to update ASAP so sorry that this chapter is shorter. At least you guys have something to look forward to ;)


	6. A Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

> _People would rather be comfortable than happy, for change and obstacles is what we fear most._

> _No person nor figment will ever compare to the warm sun and the rain that tickles your heart. Many will say love can compare, but many don't know that love can also tear you apart._

> _Anger, no matter the form, is one way we express hurt. Rage is our prideful cover up of guilt, and when we feel sorrow, it's our true selves crying for yesterday._

> _Nothing is perfect. Perfect shouldn't even be a word. Yet it is, so we can keep striving for something that doesn't exist. Though we should be glad that it does exist,, or else what would we live for?_

> _We wish to be birds so we can fly away, but no amount of flying will ever solve your problems._

Post after post, I read Keith's writing. All of these I've read at least five times over, and I love the meaning behind each one. Each one of these tells a personal story, and each one has such wise words that it leaves me stricken with thoughts. I feel like from reading these that I've added ten years to my life.

I'm in my seventh hour class which is AP Calculus, and I honestly can't wait to get out of here. I'm not going to stop at Pidge's today, but instead I'm going to go home and do my chores early before my Skype date with Keith. Hopefully we have a frozen pizza?

“Rivera, phone.”

Dammit, caught again. I reluctantly hand over my phone to the witch of math, Ms. Haggar, and I glare daggers into her back as she walked away. Now what am I supposed to do for the last half hour of school? 

Time to go old school, that’s what.

I refuse to do the extra work Haggar gave us since it's pointless busy work, so I'm going to draw for a half hour. I'm kind of artistic, but don't expect a Picasso. My sister Mariana is the artistic one of the family. Jonesy is the people's person, Rex is the mechanic, Diego is the prodigy child, and I am the math whiz. But I do pick up on the rest of my siblings skills from time to time. 

So, I drew a pizza slice. The cheese is extremely drippy and the attempted alien dude who is holding it kinda looks constipated, but I think it's perfect. I will take a picture of it later and send it to Keith with the caption 'You're out of this world'. I'm smooth as hell.

There is only seven kids in this class, so when we all heard a knock on the door, we were quick to answer. Haggar opens the door to let the visitor in, and surprisingly it's Allura?

“Excuse me, but is it okay if I borrow Lance for the rest of the hour?”

Haggar looks conflicted, but she motions me to leave anyways. I pack up everything that was on my desk and hastily shove it in my bag. Haggar also hands back my phone before I reach the door where Allura is standing. 

Why does Allura need me? The last time she talked to me was last year, and it's because I was being too loud during our chess club meeting. Allura ushers me out the door, and she clicks the door shut behind us.

“Sooo... What's this about?”

“It's about Pidge. They asked for you to come to the office and I was student aiding, so I volunteered to come and get you.”

“What? Is Pidge alright?”

“Pidge is fine Lance, just...”

Allura hesitates. Analyzing what to say next. She starts walking towards the main office.

“Pidge is what?”

“I just think it would be best if you hear it from Pidge.”

My mind starts to swarm with the worst of the worst as we walked through the empty locker ridden halls. What did Pidge do? Did they make something illegal and the government is arresting them? That's my best bet right now... But why does Pidge need me? I take the little time I had to send the drawing to Keith, which hopefully makes his day a little better.

Allura and I arrive at the office, and she takes a seat at a table on the right side of the room. I see Pidge and Matt sitting in the Principle's office. I can tell Pidge's face is full of dread. I don't greet anybody, and instead I sit in the seat next to Pidge. Our Principle Alfor spoke first.

“Lance, nice of you to join us!”

“Uh, nice to be here? I'm not exactly sure why I'm here though.”

Alfor motions for Pidge to speak. They take a huge breath, and they exhale out a sigh.

“I've... been accepted into a program where I'll be working with scientists on upcoming technology.”

Oh thank god it wasn't anything bad.

“Pidge that's great! Oh god I thought you somehow did something illegal! Why are you all mopey looking?”

I see Matt next to Pidge with a pity look. Matt is never one to pity someone, especially someone he considers family like me. Alfor to the side of me has a neutral face, but his eyes screamed at Pidge to continue their sentence.

“Lance, I'll have to go away to Florida.”

My smile shatters. Pidge... won't be here anymore?”

“I... How long?”

Pidge looks away from me, and starts to glare at the ground. 

“However long they need me. Could be a week, could be a year.”

Tears start to form, but I do not cry. It burns, but I don't dare cry.

“That's amazing still! Why aren't you more excited? We should celebrate this weekend! Chinese food on me!”

Playfully, I punch Pidge in the arm. I know for a fact Pidge and Matt knows that I'm not okay, but we both know now is not the time.

Matt, Pidge, and I leave the school. I tell them that I have to go home early because of Keith, and they both start up the usual playful banter. Luckily Matt drove here, so I have an extra hour to get ready for tonight. 

It was barely a five minute drive, but it was filled with Pidge making kissy faces at me and Matt singing 'kissing in a tree'. I'm so grateful to have these two as a second family. There will for sure be an awkward talk later, but for now it's peaceful.

We arrive at my house, and everything goes quiet. Pidge hugs me goodbye, and I hug back twice as hard. How am I supposed to live without Pidge by my side? This means I'll have to walk home alone, be in AP Physics II alone, and spend everyday alone. 

Letting a tear slide, I let go of Pidge. 

I exit the car without any further interaction. I feel more tears about to fall, so once I make it inside I bolt up stairs. Briefly, I seen my mamá in the kitchen, and Rex in the living room with Diego. Rex tried talking to me, but I didn't catch any of it. I'll tell the family later once everyone is home. For now I need to vent. I need to cry a lot and listen to music. I need to breathe.

Therefore the next hour was spent listening to the saddest music I could find, and reblogging anything on Tumblr that was as sad as I am. Constant thoughts of Pidge flooded me. What if something goes wrong in Florida? What if Pidge finds a new best friend? 

What if Pidge never comes back?

My phone buzzes, and I snap out of my stupor. The notification came from Tumblr, and in that instant I realized that I left Keith on seen while I was reblogging things on Tumblr. I'm the biggest piece of shit.

I open up the chat, in which there are three messages from Keith.

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Only you would draw something so weird/cute and send that to me._  
**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _You got your phone taken away again, didn't you?_  
**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Are you okay? You're posting kinda depressing things. I hope you're doing okay._

I don’t deserve someone as sweet as Keith. He isn't mad at all that I accidentally ghosted him. He just cares that I'm doing okay.

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Honestly? No I'm not. It's been kind of a rough two hours. I'm okayish now._

Okayish is a lie. I'm not okay at all, and I just want to cry all over again. But I have to water the house plants and help Diego with flashcards and find out how to get a pizza. Today is my day to also feed all the animals, and sweep up the barn if it's needed. Keith responded shortly after.

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Are you sure? If you're not up for Skype tonight we can reschedule..._

 **León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _NOOOOO I AM FINE I AM STILL UP FOR OUR SKYPE DATE. I JUST HAVE TO DO MY CHORES AND GET A PIZZA. STILL AT SEVEN YEAH???_

 **Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Okay awesome! I can't wait for seven :)_

After those two hours of hell, I crack a smile. This boy can send a heart emoji and that will be the day I die.

Now, I have to start my chores and find out where I'm getting my pizza. I take a moment to think about Pidge and our friendship through the years. There is no way I could replace Pidge, and there is no way Pidge could replace me. We can call each other everyday, maybe while I walk home from school? I can still visit the Holt household as well possibly, and it's not like it's forever!

I take both of my hands and smack my cheeks to wake myself up. I am mother fucking Lance McClain Rivera! This won't stop me! 

The first thing to do on my list is to water the plants, since that's inside and quick. I grab the small watering can from the hallway closet, and I head to the bathroom to fill it up with tap water. I notice my face is insanely red and puffy from that hour of constant crying, so I try that splashing water in the face technique again. Of course that didn't help at all. Though let's be honest, I will totally do that again sometime soon. 

I start with my room where I have a singular cactus that Rex got me two years ago. Honestly, I forget to water it all the time and it's still living, so Rex thought ahead on that one.

I then move on over to Diego's room, where it is littered with plants of all sorts. I always check to see if he does water his plants by himself considering he is only six, but no matter what he always remembers. His room is also filled with animals. He already can name every single dinosaur, and can do multiplication. It's a good thing Pidge was the same way, and has been giving us pointers on how to help Diego reach his full potential as a genius.

Mariana's room was next, in which she was at her desk drawing like usual. She notices me, so I hold up the water can to let her know my intentions. She nods her head, and continues to engross herself into her art. She likes to pick up random flowers on her walks home, so she always has something to water. This time she has a bunch of dandelion weeds in a mug, and some tiger lilies in her usual vase. I water both, and continue to downstairs. Neither Jonesy or Rex have plants. Why? Because they're lame that's why.

The kitchen has a few plants here and a there, and the living room has a couple as well. I also took the liberty to water the perimeter of the house. I deserve the best son award, but honestly I would just give it to Diego. 

Speaking of Diego, time for flashcards!

“Hey hermanito, time for some flashcards!”

Diego was still in the living room with Rex, and when I was watering the plants earlier he didn't say a word to me. Diego's eyes light up, and he runs over to the kitchen drawer that hold all of his things. He pulls out the Spanish/English flashcards, so I take a sigh of relief because I am sick of multiplication. 

Diego is pretty much fluent in both English and Spanish, but he insists on learning more complex words. 

We do the flashcards for longer than fifteen minutes because Diego insisted that he wasn't fast enough.

“Lance, de nuevo!”

“Diego I have to do other things.”

“DE NUEVO!”

And so again we go. Rex saves me once we go through them a fourth time by offering Diego to play with his dinosaurs. The flashcards were abandoned, so I cleaned them up and placed them in the right drawer. 

I see Jonesy come through the door looking annoyed once again.

“Lance, did you seriously take the paper again?”

“I told you, I take them for projects.”

“What do I have to do to make you stop?”

Ah yes, a Jonesy favor. Perfect to get a free pizza out of him.

“I want a pizza.”

“Fine. I have a stashed frozen cheese one in the freezer downstairs, it's yours.”

Mariana pops her head into the kitchen. She must have gotten hungry.

“Did someone say pizza?”

I turn around to Mariana. Perfecto. 

“Hey Mari, if you grab the pizza and make it I'll let you have half of it.”

“Deal.”

I smirk, and Jonesy is in shock.

“How do you just...?”

“Jonesy, you never get away with it because we all know that you would just eat the entire pizza by yourself. You have no integrity.”

Jonesy opens his mouth to retaliate, but he closes it once he realizes that I'm right. I think that's my cue to leave. I'll quickly feed the animals, sweep up the barn, and by then the pizza should be done!

I grab old trusty the LIV(that's 54 for you non Roman people), and make my way towards the barn. The barn is about a quarter mile west from our house, and the stables are north from the barn. We have a lot of land for the animals to roam, so right now all of our horses are out. I see my papá in the field tending to Armstrong, our oldest horse. He waves at me, and I wave back but with more enthusiasm. 

The small walk to the barn was peaceful. Nothing is really loud out here in 'farm land'. Though of course it is a small half hour drive to Milwaukee, which I swear it's the loudest place in existence. I need to travel more.

I'm outside the barn, and by the time I'm near it I can usually hear animal chatter, but it's quiet. Something is wrong. Something is seriously wrong.

I want to call out to my papá, but I didn't want to bother him in case my hunch was wrong. Animals can be quiet sometimes, right?

The barn door slowly creeks open wider than it was before, and a terrible odor attacks my nostrils. I double over and stop myself from puking out my lunch. Immediately I grab my shirt and cover my nose in attempt to bear the smell, and I continue into the barn. 

I get the urge to vomit again when I see the sight before me.

Kaltenecker is sprawled where she usually stands. Flies have always followed her around, but never like this. 

“PAPÁ AYUDA!”

My feet carry me out into the field. My throat is constricted and filled with pent up vile that needs to be released. My dad must have heard my scream, because he meets me half way across the field. 

“Mijo?”

I almost collapse to the ground, but I steady myself on my knees.

“There... is something wrong with Kaltenecker.”

My dad grabs my arm and starts to run towards the barn. I mutter out a warning to cover his nose, and he does by tying his flannel around his face. I cover my nose again before we enter the barn. My dad freezes for a moment once he sees the state that Kalnenecker is in. He continues on to check her vitals and anything else that might be alarming.

“Lance, she is still alive. Go into the house and get your mamá.”

He didn't have to tell me twice. Mamá is an animal doctor and will be able to help Kaltenecker. I burst out of the barn, and Jonesy is here looking concerned. I ignore him as I run towards our front door and start calling out.

“MAMÁ!”

My mom was in the laundry room taking some clothes out of the washer. She notices my distress and drops the clothes back into the washer.

“Mijo, qué está mal?”

“There is something wrong with Kaltenecker, Papá needs you.”

Mamá wastes no time. She shifts into doctor mode and grabs her emergency animal aid kit and runs out towards the barn. Rex is already up on his feet running out with mamá, and Mariana leads Diego into the kitchen with her to distract him from what's going on. What should I do? 

Diego tugs on my right pant leg.

“Is Kalte okay?”

I'm staying with Diego and Mariana. I crouch down to Diego's level and hug him.

“I hope she will be okay. Mamá will see if Kaltenecker is okay.”

I remember when I was five when I named Kaltenecker. I named her after the main character in my favorite TV show, and she has been with me ever since. I start to tear up at the thought of Kaltenecker passing away, and Mariana joins in on the hug. I can't afford to lose it right now. They need me to be strong.

About fifteen minutes pass, and Mariana has took out the pizza we were supposed to eat. None of us touch it. 

Ten more minutes pass, and the rest of the family except mamá come through the front door. 

We were doing more flashcards with Diego, but I abandon them to stand up and ask the question.

“Is Kaltenecker okay?”

Papá does a small Mona Lisa like smile.

“She is still alive. Benita is calling some coworkers to help her out. She isn't sure what exactly is going on, but as of right now she is fine.”

I exhale. I still feel terrible, but knowing that Kaltenecker isn't dead is enough for me at the moment. I check the clock, and it's almost 6:30. I have some time to calm down before I go and Skype with Keith. This has been probably one of the worst days of my life, but I can overcome this. Keith should make it a bit better.

Mariana separated the pizza onto two plates, so I grab the blue plate while she grabs the yellow one. I don't feel all that hungry though, but I take it anyways since I'm sure I'll get hungry eventually. 

Jonesy and Rex look tired, but they're both are relaxing on the couch now, so it's the best thing they could do for now. Papá has already left again, probably either to help out mamá or put the horses away for the night. I ruffle Diego's hair before I climb the stairs to my room.

My room is a slight mess, so I take the time to make my bed and pick up the miscellaneous. I don't have a desktop computer, but I do have a laptop that I've owned since seventh grade. 

By the time I had Skype up to date and having myself look a little more presentable it was five minutes away from seven. 

**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Are you ready?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As an FYI I can't speak Spanish what so ever and I google translate EVERYTHING. So sorry if I mess it up, so tell me if the translation is wrong! Also I figured you guys should also know the sibling's ages so here you guys go!
> 
> Jonesy-23  
> Rex-19  
> Lance-17  
> Mariana-11  
> Diego-6


	7. Two Dorks In Love

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _I'm ready. Username is the same as my Tumblr name._

I attempt to swallow my anxiety down, but I just make it worse. It's not everyday that someone like me can make a friend, let alone a date. I almost feel like this is our second, or even third date since I already know so much about Lance. Then again, people through text are a lot different compared to in person. Maybe Lance is just as scared as I am?

I'm waiting patiently at my desktop with my pizza that Hunk made for me after school. He insisted that he wanted to contribute to this date in someway, so he pulled out all the stops for this. I will admit that I have already took a bite of the pizza, which it's phenomenal like always. I really had to stop myself from eating all of it.

On top of the pizza making, I also had to make a Skype. I had one before, but Hunk and I used it only once because his family was away on vacation last year. I forgot the password and username after that endeavor. 

Skype notified me that someone with the username 'thisisyourswamp' added me. 

Seriously Lance? 

I accept it, and then I messaged him through Skype.

**Red_Red_Red to thisisyourswamp:** _Ready when you are._

Crap, I'm too nervous for this. My hands are shaking, and I already feel myself start to sweat. I take off my hoodie so I don't die of a heat stroke, and I am left in my usual black t-shirt that I always wear to bed. My phone's reflection shows that I look semi okay, I just have to prevent myself from saying something stupid.

That's when I hear the calling notification.

I exhale out all my anxiety, and I inhale as I click on the video button. You can do this Keith.

The image on my computer is black, then it clears into Lance who is sitting on his bed. I see NASA posters in the background and a small cactus on the windowsill in the corner of the screen. Lance himself is wearing a purple shirt with some sort of alien on it from an irrelevant kids cartoon. He is so much more of a dork than I thought.

Luckily, Lance spoke before I had to.

“Heyo! What kind of pizza did you get?”

I take a moment to stare down at the pizza Hunk made.

“Seven layer cheese and garlic.”

“WHAT that sounds amazingly delicious! I'm jealous... I just have a normal frozen cheese pizza. Frozen or pizza place?”

I hold up my plate to show him the slices.

“Neither, homemade.”

“WHAAATTT. You can cook??”

I take a moment to laugh. Me, cook? 

“No not at all. My best friend Hunk can cook anything, so I tend to get stuff like this a lot.”

Lance shifts on his bed. He raises his legs up to his chest while pulling his blanket around him. Gosh that is cute.

“Aw no fair. Granted my best friend can hack the government probably, but what good will that do?”

I hear the word 'government' and 'hack', therefore my brain forgot to filter my mouth.

“GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACIES.”

Oh god I screamed that, but Lance didn't seem to mind. In fact he also started screaming.

“YO WE CAN FIND OUT IF THE MOON LANDING WAS FAKE.”

And so, we continued to talk about the moon landing for a bit. I forgot about my pizza, so I guess I'll eat my pizza cold. Throughout that first half hour I couldn't stop smiling, and I really don't smile this much, so my cheeks started to hurt. Lance was the first to end our moon landing discussion. 

“Okay, as much as I would love to continue to talk about this I really just want to get to know more about you.”

I stop smiling, and instead my face starts to heat up. 

“What about me?”

“Oh you know, the basics. I feel like I know so much about you already, but we haven't even brushed the basics. Like what's your favorite color?”

“Red.”

“Blue!”

This spiraled into a game of twenty questions, or really just us asking random things to each other. I learned that Lance's favorite subject is math, his favorite animal is a cow because of Kaltenecker, and he is deathly afraid of blood.

“Wait, why blood?”

“Are you kidding me? If I watch any ER videos I start to get faint! I absolutely hate them since I start to feel whatever the heck is wrong with them and just-”

Maybe Shiro is right. 

Maybe I should marry him.

Lance starts laughing when I mention my favorite food.

“Dude, seriously?”

“Don't you dare give me shit when your favorite flavor is orange.”

“Excuse you? Orange is the best flavor! On top of that, waffle cones aren't even food Keith!”

On second thought, I probably shouldn't marry him and his waffle cone hating tendencies. 

Throughout our 'game', I've noticed that whenever Lance thinks too hard on something he starts to twirl his hair. If it's really hard, he strokes his entire hand through it. The action is so adorable, that I start to ask him harder questions.

“Okay, what's better. Spending the day at the beach, or finding a new band to listen too?”

Lance's expression turns serious.

“Okay, so the beach is practically my second home, but on the other hand music can be with me always... Yep I have decided that the beach will always win.”

“Always?”

“Yep, always. Unless of course I was given a once in the lifetime chance to have Betty White as my mom, but that's not likely. Now, what's worse. Running from a psychopath clown, or running from a swarm of cicadas?”

“Cicadas? Why cicadas?”

“Just answer the question Keith!”

“Definitely the cicadas. I can fight off the clown, but not the cicadas.”

“I agree. Those things are monsters. That and getting killed by a clown is a cool way to go.”

I take a moment to check my phone. I feel like it's been a few hours... It's almost midnight??

“Uh Lance, do you also have school tomorrow?”

Lance also picks up his phone and gasps.

“Oh god tomorrow is my day to work with the cows! I have like four hours to sleep!”

“I'm sorry for keeping you up this late.”

“Oh no no no don't be! I had such a terrible day and you made it a thousand times better! Let's have another date sometime soon?”

“Uh, yeah I'll text you tomorrow about it.”

“Awesome! Also, I really enjoyed this date a lot. So is it like safe to say that we are dating? Like, seeing each other in a sense?”

Holy sHIT.

“Um-ah... Y-Yeah? Yeah that's good.”

“Cool! Um... Goodnight Keith. I hope you sleep well!”

I start to wave off Lance, and grab my mouse to hover over the end call button. 

“Goodnight Lance. Don't scroll Tumblr too long.”

Lance laughs for the last time that night, as he was the first to end the call. My cheeks hurt a lot, body is warm from all the laughing, and exhaustion consumes me. I can't believe Lance and I talked for four hours, and we are officially 'going out'. Going out meaning what exactly? I have no idea, but I like the idea of more Skype and Lance, so that's good enough for me.

My computer I decided to put in sleep mode, and I plug my almost dead phone into it's charger. I try to get myself into a comfortable position, but then I found myself tossing and turning way too much. Lance is all I can think about and I just really want to talk to him more and more. I want to let him know that I enjoy his company a lot, and that his smile probably lights up any room he walks in. Does he know all of that?

I fall asleep thinking about what we could do for our next date, and I come up with the best plan that will for sure make Lance happy.

* * *

“OKAY WE GET IT LANCE. YOU'RE REALLY GAY FOR KEITH WE GET IT.”

Matt was nice enough to pick Pidge and I up today. I was dead this entire morning considering that I had a hard time falling asleep, then the morning wake up call of my alarm was not appreciated one bit. I did not crack one smile that day, until Pidge brought up in the car how my date with Keith went. I felt the muscles in my face start to wake up, and my eyes open wider. Even though the drive was like five minutes, Matt and Pidge was already done with my shit, especially Pidge.

“Hey gremlin, I don't call you out with your Allura crush and yell at you and how much you go on and on-”

And there's the first Pidge Punch of the day. Matt laughs and unlocks the doors for us to get out.

“Okay kiddos, have a good day and don't do drugs!”

“No promises!”  
“No promises!”

Matt drives off, and Pidge and I walk off and start roaming the halls. I start to yawn again, and I realized if I'm going too function throughout the day I'm gonna have to take a nap in a class or two. Maybe Physics, or Spanish? Most likely Spanish, since I already know all that jazz.

Wait, I should text Keith! 

My phone is fully charged for the amount that I'm going to text Keith today, so I happily open up my Tumblr app and try to come up with a good opener. Maybe a pickup line? But there was already a notification under Keith's name.

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Can't sleep, but I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed our time together. I already have a plan for next time. Does Friday work for you?_

“PIDGE I AM GONNA DIE PLEASE ATTEND MY FUNERAL.”

Pidge was generous enough to help me calm down as I ranted about Keith once again. Seriously, how can one gay emo Texas kid have this much power over me? 

The bell rings, and Pidge and I have to part ways. I get the second Pidge Punch of the day before they leave to Microeconomics, while I go off to AP Psychology. It's a harder task to text in that class, so I make up my message while I walk.

**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Aww I loved last night too!!!! Friday for sure works for me!! I'm super excited for what you have planned :DD Do I have to wear something fancy? ;)))_

I hope this kid gets that I'm trying to flirt with him. 

Today in Psychology we are trying to get through all the units before our AP exam happens in May. It's March now, so our teacher is stressing for us to study and not waste class time. Alas, I am not gonna do anything today aside from the note taking.

Now the reason that it's hard to text in this class is that I'm placed right up front. Not because I'm a bad kid, and most definitely not because I wanted to. It's because the teacher Mr. Rotten likes me a lot since I crack a lot of jokes throughout his class. His name contradicts him as a person, since he is one of the best teachers I've had. He likes to throw things at students and stops writing on the board at the worse times. Example writing 'ass' for assignment. The students all love him.

I walk in and take my seat, and they are all individual desks so it's not like I'm elbow to elbow with someone. That, and I can text freely without anybody getting nosy. My phone notifies me that Keith responded.

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Nope. In fact wear pajamas, the silliest looking pajamas you have._

A man after my own heart I see. Pajama date? This is too perfecto. Hastily, I text out my own response before the bell rings again, signaling that class starts.

**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _I'm going to wear my Lilo and Stitch footie pajamas just for you ;) ALSO sorry if I don't reply right away bc my class rn is hard to text in :'(_

It's sad, but true. I really want to know how Keith's day has been going so far, but I don't have the time as of right now to give him all the attention he deserves. He will be blasted by me during lunch though, I guarantee it.

Class begins, and Mr. Rotten walks in two minutes late.

“Okay, so who here is single?”

Weird questions like this happen all the time, so the class doesn't question it. About more than half the class raises their hands, including me. 

“Okay then this lesson should help you all! I'm going to teach you all how to get dates today.”

Hushed giggles and whispers go around the room. I mean, I have Keith and my pickup lines, so there isn't much help needed here.

“Dopamine, which is created in the brain and adrenal glands, is one of the components to the journey of love. In the first stages in love, you feel yourself sweat more, and norepinephrine starts to increase making it harder to sleep at night, since norepinephrine is a...?”

The class responds with “Stimulant!”.

“Correct. To sum all of this all up you all are messes when you see someone appealing.”

Mr. Rotten pulls a banana out of his backpack, and we all groan, except me. I start to laugh. This is why I'm Mr. Rotten's favorite. He starts to eat the banana while writing on the board the notes of the day. By the end of the class, the only thing that I learned that will improve my game is that scary things make you look prettier. Here, I'll explain that further.

Things like roller coasters, haunted houses, or anything that boosts adrenaline makes anyone look appealing because you associate the adrenaline rush with that person. So in other words, I need to make Keith scared while in his presence, but how can I do that when I can't be with him in person?

I continue on to my Spanish class, which it's Spanish III, so not hard at all and very sleep worthy. Though I really do want to talk to Keith... Talk or sleep? This is such a terrible choice decision.

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _That's fine. Also make sure you sleep sometime during class. Don't force yourself to talk to me._

How did he?? I take my seat in the way back of the class to avoid people.

**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Aw but I love talking to you ;-; but you're right, I should sleep. Buenas nochas Keith <3_

I get myself into the standard desk sleeping position. My backpack on the desk as a pillow, and my hood is up to protect myself from the light. Perfecto. All of my homework is done fo r this class, and the teacher knows I speak Spanish, so Señora Stephanie should be fine with me taking a nap for once.

Before I could sleep, my phone buzzes Keith's response.

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Goodnight Lance <3_

I am fucking dead.

* * *

Shiro is incredibly annoying. Like, extremely annoying. 

He wouldn't stop pestering me about Lance and how our date went. He went as far as offering Hunk and I a ride to school in order to get information out of me. I did tell him parts of it, just skimming over everything. Shiro looked as if he was surviving off the information I was giving him, and I didn't even speak about it for a minute.

Luckily he didn't make a huge deal about it like when I first initially told him about Lance, but he still kept mentioning that he better be the best man.

Then of course Hunk is my savior of the day.

He asked about it, and I responded that it was good and that was it. We went about our school day like normal, and I prefer it like that. I can tell that Hunk is excited and proud of me, it's just that Shiro is way too extra.

I told Lance to take a nap, so now I'm left to my class crap. Nothing really happened throughout the day, in fact it was a relaxed day. Lance in between his naps sent me memes that he's found and little doodles that he made in class. One of them was a drawing of us with a little heart in between us. 

I really, really like Lance.

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _You're really good at drawing. I like that last one you sent a lot. :)_

**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Awww ty ty tho you should see my sister!! She is amazing at it. Oooo maybe she could draw us and that would be such a cute gift!!! Though now you know about it oops._

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _You didn't have to send it if you didn't want me to know?_

**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Lmao I know. That was me being laaammmee. Here is a selfie of the one and only!!_

Graced upon me was the second selfie Lance has sent me. It's him in class, but he is in a desk. He's wearing a white and blue striped shirt, with a white jacket, and he posed himself with one arm propping up his face. He's smiling at the camera, but it's so much like he is smiling at me just like on Skype last night. How could I not smile at that face? I save it before responding.

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Adorable. I'm in my last hour of the day and I don't want to be here._

I take it a step further and take a 'selfie' as well. Since I'm in the back of the class and the teacher is busy on their computer, I make a ballsy move and hold up my phone to give him the standard peace sign selfie, but I make sure my teacher was in it. Lance will just love the risky move. I double check the quality of the photo, and I think it's good. I'm wearing my standard black big foot hoodie again, and I attempted a smile as well. It's good enough to send.

Some of the kids around me noticed the stunt I pulled, and one kid gave me two thumbs up. None of the kids in here have interacted with me before, so how am I supposed to react to that? In the heat of the moment I give back a thumbs up too, and I mentally slap myself for how stupid that looked. I really want to go home.

I'm so glad that I have Lance here to keep me sane.

**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _OMG YOU ARE SUCH A CUTIE REBEL :0000 I WOULD GET MYSELF DETENTION IF I TRIED THAT OMG NOW I WANNA_

Lance just called me a cutie?? My face heats up, and it's not from the Texas heat for once. 

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _What are you doing today?_

At this rate, there is no way I can wait until tomorrow to talk to Lance again. I want to hear him laugh at my attempted jokes and see his exaggerated facial expressions. 

**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Since I had to get up early this morning, I don't have any chores to do so probs homework uugghhh_

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Do you want to Skype and do homework together then? I can use your math expertise._

**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _OMG YEEESSSSS AND YOU CAN HELP ME WITH MY ENGLISH ESSAY AHH THIS IS PERFECTO_

I feel like Lance would write in caps lock all the time if it was socially acceptable. For once in my life, I can't wait to do my homework.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh I wanna update more but it's the end of the school year and I need to graduate ;-; Hopefully I can update one more time before graduation, so sorry if the next chapter is for a while.
> 
> Also yes, the Psychology teacher and Spanish teacher are based off Lazy Town because that was the first thing that came to mind oops.


	8. Definition of the Perfect Distraction

“You know, I never thought I would say this, but Keith please pay attention in Algebra.”

Today I have took a total of four naps, and I'm still very tired. I would have gone home and slept even more, but Keith wanted to talk again, so therefore here I am learning that Keith is awful at basic algebra. Since I brought my laptop to school, I decided it would be best to go to Pidge's and just talk to Keith from Pidge's house. So far, neither Pidge or Keith have noticed each others existence. Pidge is too busy working on their next project, and they have headphones in. Keith on the other hand probably thinks this is another side of my room and I'm sitting on the floor just because I can.

Really though, should I introduce Keith to Pidge now?

“Lance, I do pay attention in Algebra, it's just none of it sticks too me and I'm stuck with C average grades.”

“Once I'm done with you Keith, you will have such straight A's in Algebra II that you will start to question your sexuality. Now, what's the unit that you are about to work on?”

Keith chuckles at my gay joke, and he takes a moment to look over his papers. He has his hair tied back, and damn it should be illegal to be this fine. I wonder what he would look like with shorter hair...? Or better yet, longer hair???

“Lance, are you okay?”

Keith's voice drags me back from my thoughts, and I must have been staring way too long.

“Yep! Peachy! Um, I was just thinking if I should introduce you to my best friend Pidge. They're in the room with me right now, but I haven't told them that I would be Skyping with you at all.”

Keith's expression is terribly hard to read, but from what I could gather he looks scared. I hope that in the future reading his face will come naturally.

“Um, if you want too I guess? I could have you meet Hunk sometime soon as well.”

“Ah that would be great! Here, let me get the gremlin out of their work corner. I'll be right back!”

I place my laptop from my lap onto the carpet below me, and I stand up and try to find the right words to get Pidge to not give me a Pidge Punch. Heck, who am I kidding? Keith is such a celebrity in the Holt household that for sure Pidge will be interested in meeting him. I tap on Pidge's shoulder, and immediately they give me a death glare. I stopped them in the middle of screwing something in a small robot. Pidge was nice enough to take out one ear bud.

“Hey Pidgey, want to meet Keith?”

There was a brief second of confusion, then Pidge's face fills with mischief. Oh no, what have I done. Pidge puts down their new project, and stretches out their arms over their head.

“Well, lead me to him lover boy.”

Pidge follows me over to where I set down my laptop, and Keith looks as if he is about to meet the president.

“Hey Keith! This is Pidge, Pidge meet Keith!”

I make sure that both Pidge and I show up on the screen, and it's kinda hilarious how short Pidge is compared to me. Keith waves at us, and Pidge is the first to speak.

“So, you're into conspiracies?”

“Um, yes?”

“Then here is the true test of if you know what you're talking about. Is Avril Lavigne actually dead?”

“Of course she is. There is so much evidence to back up that she has been dead for years.”

And that's how Keith and Pidge became friends. The three of us decided to take a break from what we were originally doing to talk for a bit. We were mainly focused on Avril Lavigne, but eventually we went into Pidge giving away my personal stories. Why am I friends with this kid again?

“Yep, Lance totally knocked down an entire display at Walmart because he wanted to pose in front of it. I have the picture before all of the bouncy balls erupted all over the next three aisles.”

Dammit, Pidge made Keith laugh. Now I have to one up them.

“Yeah, well at least I don't get carded for PG-13 movies.”

Pidge gives me a side glare, and we both know this is war.

“Well, I never confused a raccoon for a dog and brought it home to keep.”

“I never watched all of Naruto in a month.”

“I never memorized the entire Bee Movie by heart.”

“I never had a beanie baby collection!”

We went back and forth with terrible stories of ourselves for a while. Keith loved every single one we told, and he even told some stories himself.

“Wait wait wait, Keith, you couldn't ride a bike until you were ten?”

“Shut up, I was too terrified of falling. I was mad that I couldn't ride bikes with Hunk and his siblings so I taught myself. I don't like my mom's tactic where if you are pushed down a hill you 'automatically learn', so it took me two weeks to teach myself, but I did it.”

Keith is too adorable. I say that all the time, but it's true.

Pidge decided it would be best to have us do homework again, especially once they found out how terrible Keith is at math. 

“Wait Keith, you seriously don't know how to do logarithms?”

“Lance, Pidge, I know you guys are amazingly smart and that it's hard to understand that average person has no idea what a logarithm is, so please understand that it's amazing that I even know what they are.”

Pidge left after that, muttering about how they were doing logarithms since diapers. 

Keith and I somehow got through all of his math homework, and by the end of it he was doing logs like a pro. We still have about an hour left before Pidge's mom get's home, so Keith decided that I should start on my essay.

“Lance, your prompt is incredibly easy. Just write about a special moment? Come on I wish I could have prompts like that. All I get is 'write about how much of an emo Holden Caulfield is'.”

“Who is Holden Caulfield?”

“Oh my God.”

I have learned how to write out a general essay from Keith. Apparently, whatever my 'thesis' is should be my main focus of my essay, and that it should be at least five paragraphs unless the instructions say otherwise. I try to write out my first paragraph, but I'm having a hard time coming up with a 'special moment'.

“Keith, I really don't have any ideas. I can figure it out later once an idea comes to me.”

It's five minutes until Mrs. Holt comes through the door, so Keith reluctantly let's me out of this one.

“Fine, just you better have an idea by tomorrow. We're... still on for tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah of course! Hopefully I won't be the only one wearing ridiculous pajamas.”

“Just you wait Lance. Your mind will be blown.”

I hear the front door shut from Pidge's room, so I'll have to cut this shorter than I thought.

“Oh man my ride is here. Feel free to text me! I can't wait for our date tomorrow!”

Keith waves at me before I hear his last words for the day.

“I can't wait either. See you later Lance.”

Keith ends the call before I do, and I feel instantly sad. I want to hit that call button again, but I have to go home and eat something. Pidge tags along per usual, and there wasn't much chatter within the car. Mrs. Holt was tired, and Pidge was angry because their coding hasn't been working all day. Then there is me, a dude who can't get a certain mullet out of his head.

Pidge and Mrs. Holt say goodbye, and I head inside to find that my mamá was watching one of her telenovelas. Diego is on the floor, and he is reading one of his dinosaur books. There are no other signs of the family anywhere. Instead of bothering my mamá, I head to the kitchen to heat up the leftovers. Today it was tamales, and I had a special plate with my name on it. I love that my mamá is supportive of all my decisions between me being bisexual to me being a vegetarian. I know most families would flip and force their ideals upon me. Not my mamá, and certainly not my family. 

I wonder if Keith's family is the same way?

My other lesser known friend, the microwave, pops open to let me heat up my food. While the food heats up I decide to scroll through Tumblr. There is the usual memes of course, then my favorite posts show up too so I can reblog them again. Then, I stumble across a new post from Keith. This is longer than his usual posts...

> _Red_Red_Red: Laying awake in the dead of night is dangerous. Most of us stay awake and strive for a distraction, because we don't want to face what might lurk under the bed of our minds. We are all victims of this monster we call ourselves, but don't fret. The more we focus on what that monster is under our bed, the more we lose ourselves in the fear of the unknown. This challenge that we face isn't a matter of how strong you are, and how much you can tolerate the constant presence that your monster latches onto you night after night. The real testament is the power to say that you need help, the power to scream for someone to barge into your room and scare away your monster. Find your perfect distraction, and sleep will become meaningless instead of wanted._

My heart skips a couple beats with each hidden meaning. There is so much heart put into this piece that I'm sure Keith spent a lot of time on this small paragraph. But what does this all mean exactly? Is he personally feeling like this, or is this a random idea that came to mind?

The microwave beeped a long time ago, but I was too engrossed into Keith's new post to notice. As I eat at the barren kitchen table, I read it over again and again. Maybe he found his perfect distraction, and wanted to share how you get rid of the 'monster'? What exactly is Keith's 'monster'? Would it be weird or rude to ask him about it?

I finish my food, and I still don't know the answer. I need some fresh air, so maybe Rex is out working on his bike? I haven't talked to him one on one in forever, so that's what I'll do. I quickly clean up the table, and rinse my plates to make it easier for Diego. He just started learning how to do the dishes, which is a relief on everyone else in the family.

As I start leaving the house, my phone buzzed. It must be Keith!... Nope it was my data plan running out. Now I can't go on the internet without WiFi... Oh shit... how am I supposed to contact Keith now? Is it okay to ask for his phone number? It will have to be, or else I won't be able to contact him in public until Saturday when my phone bill is paid.

**León72Azul to Red_Red_Red:** _Aye yo can I have your phone number?? My data ran out so I can't message you through Tumblr in public ;-;_

I was hoping to ask for his phone number more romantically, but hey what can you do when you use all of your data on a cute boy? I'm sorta standing awkwardly in the living room for Keith's response, so instead of waiting around I should spend some time with Diego. Once Diego seen that I was going to talk to him, he pushes the book he was reading into my face. This is his way of asking me to read out loud to him. My mamá gave me the go ahead, so I went ahead and got into my story telling voice.

“BOOM BOOM BOOM. The earth shook under the young Triceratops. There must be a BIG dinosaur coming through the forest!”

Yep, I'm a pro at this. The book was short, and Diego has read this over a thousand times already, so when I end it he applauds me for another successful retelling. Mamá smiles at both Diego and I, and I ruffle Diego's hair before I check my phone for Keith's response.

**Red_Red_Red to León72Azul:** _Yeah of course. My number is xxx-xxx-xxxx._

Ah yes, I have obtained Keith's phone number. I'm going to give him a nickname is my phone! I start to leave the house finally, as I input the number and conjure up a cute nickname. I'm standing outside the garage when it came to me the perfect nickname.

**Lance to Special K:** _Ayyyyeee I'm back baby. Btw I gave you the nickname Special K in my phone, so come up with one for me!!!!_

I'm nervous of what Keith will come up with, but he's amazing with words, so I'm sure it will be perfect. 

It turns out Rex was in the garage, and what surprises me is that he was working on a car instead of his bike.

“Where did the car come from?”

Rex was in the hood, and he jumps when I spoke.

“Lance! I thought we talked about this?”

“Oops sorry, I forgot. You do get easily scared.”

Rex glares at me, but he continues to clean up the crap on his hands.

“So, what brings you to my humble abode?”

There is a kinda broken chair by the work desk that I take to sit on, and I honestly don't know what to talk about? So I pick the topic that has been my life for the past couple of days.

“Well, I've been seeing a guy.”

I see Rex tense up a little bit as he puts down the hood. Oh god he is just gonna focus on me now.

“Really? Like no messing around?”

“Nope, no messing around. I genuinely like this guy.”

Rex continues to walk towards me and pick up the stool that's next to me, and he brings it closer to where I'm sitting. We're about a foot away from each other, and I can smell the 'garage' smell coming off of Rex.

“Tell me about him.”

“Um, what about him?”

“You know, the basics. Name, how you guys met, all that junk.”

Okay, so I guess I am finally telling a family member about all of this and the Holt family doesn't have to suffer as much anymore.

“Well, his name is Keith and we met... online.”

Rex gives me the old eyebrow raise.

“Online?”

“Um, yeah? If you think I'm getting catfished, I'm not. I've been Skyping with him recently, he's legit.”

Rex only raises his eyebrow higher, if that was even possible?

“So you, Lance Rivera, have developed an actual crush on someone and they just so happen to not live around here? That's rough buddy. Where does he live?”

“Somewhere in Texas?”

“Holy crap Texas??? I mean, at least it isn't Australia?”

I would probably cry if Keith lived in Australia. I really don't like Vegemite.

“Yeah, that would suck... But I really want this to somehow work out, you know? I feel like I can do a long distance relationship, cause man I've never met someone like Keith before. I've known him for almost a week, and he just brightens my day no matter what. I want to feel what I have with him every day, you know?”

Rex beams a smile at me. There are no words exchanged as he pats me on the back and gives me a side hug.

“Yeah, I understand. When I found Circe my entire world was changed. I think it's just in the Rivera blood that we're flirts, but once we find 'the one' the world becomes clearer. Introduce me to Keith sometime, yeah?”

'The one'? Is Keith really 'the one'? I can't have my hopes up just like that, but Rex for sure gave me more confidence than what I had before. Now no matter I want Keith and I to work.

“Oh but Rex, you never answered my question.”

“You asked a question?”

“Yeah, what's the car for?”

Rex looks over at the car previously mentioned, and he starts to rub his neck. That means Rex is hiding something and is about to lie.

“Oh I'm fixing up a friends car for money. Why do you like it?”

Why would he lie to me about the car? I guess he will tell me when the time is right.

“Yeah it's a pretty cool car. Hopefully the transmission isn't giving you too much trouble?”

“You don't even know the half of it.”

Rex briefly explains his car troubles, but we both notice that it's completely pitch black outside and we should probably go back to the house. Rex starts cleaning up the garage, and I go back into the house by myself. I should really shower and get that garage smell off of me, but honestly I kinda really like that smell.

I try to get upstairs to the shower, but my mamá stops me before I even touched the first step.

“Mijo, I have news on Kaltenecker.”

Oh no... Please, please let Kaltenecker be okay.

“So... Will Kaltenecker be alright?”

“She will be absolutely fine Lance. Kaltenecker had Mastitis, which is easily curable. Her udder was just too irritated and was very painful for her, but she is fine now. She will be back in the barn by tomorrow.”

“Oh thank you mamá!”

I hug the shorter woman with all my might. She is honestly the most amazing woman I know. She let's me go with a stronger hug back, and a kiss on my cheek.

“Now, go wash up. You smell like Rex.”

I knew that I smelt the garage on me! Hastily. I grab a quick shower before I turn in for the night. I deserve to go to bed early tonight, since tomorrow is the big day! I wonder what Keith has in store for me? I wonder if I can one up him and make the date after this one even better? I wonder if Keith has responded???

**Special K to Baby Blue:** _Baby Blue, I have decided._

Holy shit??? That's actually cuter than anything I could have came up with and I'm dying???

**Baby Blue to Special K:** _Have I ever told you that you're my definition of perfect? Bc holy shiiittt_

I didn't think it was possible to like Keith even more, but I was oh so wrong. He keeps surprising me with little gems like this, and that heart emoji from earlier today? Fucking priceless. 

Tonight I'll be sleeping in sweatpants with no shirt, for tomorrow I'm breaking out my Stitch onesie that I got for my birthday last year from Pidge. I was about to get cozy in bed, but my phone started to buzz like crazy.

Wait, Keith is calling me? 

I start to panic, but then I realized it's not a Skype call and he can't see me, so I answer it.

“Hello?”

“Oh god um, hi... Sorry I'll just-”

“No wait! Don't go! I'm glad that I can hear your voice before I go to sleep. What's on your mind?”

There was a brief two or three second silence before Keith started to speak again.

“Okay well um, this is going to be insanely awkward for me to say, but I'm going to say it anyways.”

I hear Keith trying to clear his throat on the other end. Is he really that nervous?

“I know you didn't have a good day yesterday, and you don't have to tell me the reasoning behind that... But I wanted to let you know that I'm extremely happy that I've met you, and that to me you're also my definition of perfect.”

I feel a singular tear start to roll down my face, and for once it's because I was _happy_.

“Um, oh wow... I wasn't expecting that. You've left me speechless again, you should be proud of yourself!”

“Shit, I did make it awkward, didn't I? 

“No no no, you made everything perfect! I think my only concern with us is that there is a possibility that we are rushing whatever 'this' is, and in all honesty I don't give a shit if we are! I like you, and you like me, so I'm giving my all to make this work out, okay?”

More silence ensues, but only for a second or two before Keith chokes out a response.

“I-I agree. I am more of the action type versus the thinking type.”

“So am I Special K. I hope you sleep well tonight, and that your plans for our date tomorrow go according to your plan! Goodnight!”

“Um, yeah I hope so too. Goodnight Baby Blue.”

Keith hangs up before he could hear my muffled screeching. He verbally called me Baby Blue!

I think I understand now. Keith is my perfect distraction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo I did manage to update before my graduation!! Also I can't believe how fluffy and sweet I make these chapters?? How are you guys still reading these things without dying? I may never know.


	9. Behind the Scenes

> _dadboi01: Friday's are the absolute worst. For some reason it's the one day we have to do everything. Like man can we just go out and party on a Tuesday night and have Wednesday Weddings? I'm sick of trying to do everything on a Friday._
> 
> _dadboi01: Man I am tired_
> 
> _dadboi01: Does having three orange sodas and a large slushie unhealthy even if you do work out?_
> 
> _dadboi01: OK SO MY BROTHER CAME OUT OF THE CLOSET TONIGHT AND I LAUGHED SO HARD A SPAGHETTI NOODLE CAME OUT OF MY NOSE._
> 
> _dadboi01: lmao so yall know how my bro came out and shiz? He has a lil crush on a boi and I wanna die from how cute it is aww_
> 
> _dadboi01: I accidentally wrecked my textbook because I pushed it off the bed while I was sleeping. If that isn't college life idk what is._
> 
> _dadboi01: If I dyed my hair white would that be cool or would I just look reeeaaallllyy old?_

I wonder if Keith has been seeing my posts? Or maybe even Lance now that I've added him? Half of these posts I'm drunk, and the other half I'm extremely sleep deprived. Maybe getting a Tumblr wasn't a good idea after all? But how else will I get my fan art?

Closing my laptop, I decided that it's best for me to actually sleep for the night. It's not late at all, so maybe instead of an early bed time, I can go bother Keith? That sounds like a perfect plan. I need to get more information out of him, or else I'll have to rely on messaging Lance himself for the details.

I try my best to quietly sneak out of my room, and down the hall a bit to Keith's room. I knock two times on Keith's door, but I hear no response back. Weird much? I open the door a bit, and I see Keith on his bed... With a phone up to his face???

“I-I agree. I am more of the action type versus the thinking type.”

What's this now? Is Keith actually talking on the phone for once? I remember back when he was eight, and he thought that talking on the phone took your soul away. His face is completely lit up, and his entire face is red. He looks more adorable than ever, and I should hand write a note to Lance thanking him for letting me see this side of Keith once again.

“Um, yeah I hope so too. Goodnight Baby Blue.”

Did he just? Oh my...

Now that he has hung up the phone, time for me to give him shit.

“Keith, my most favorite little brother.”

The door is now wide open, and Keith his clutching his phone. His eyes are filled with terror and he knows what's going to happen next.

“Shiro?! How much of that did you hear?!”

“Enough to know that we have to have a very long talk.”

And so, that's where I found myself on a Thursday night. Talking to Keith, or as Keith puts it, 'forcing information out of him'. Either way, I win regardless.

“Okay fine. I was just on the phone with Lance.”

“Ugh, finally you say that. Normal people don't take ten minutes of pouting to say what you just said.”

“I wasn't pouting!”

“Sure you weren't. Now, was that a cutesy nickname that I just heard a while ago?”

This night went from good, to great.

“Well, I-...Yes. Yes, it was. It just happened today, so please don't think that I skimped out on details from this morning.”

“You totally did skimp out on details this morning, but I'll let it slide. All I care about is your status right now.”

“My status?”

“Yes. What are your thoughts and feelings right now on Lance?”

I know for a fact this is a terrible question for Keith because from the looks of it I broke him with that question.

“Wha-? I-I don't know that? Like, I know that I like him and all and that I want whatever this is to work, but I have no idea what the right answer to that question is!”

“Keith, there is no such thing as a wrong answer when it comes to your feelings. Just tell me how you feel.”

Keith lightens up a bit after I said that. I think he learned from our last talk because he grabs his pillow and starts to hug the crap out of it.

“Well, I've never felt like this before I guess. It's new and exciting, yet I'm so terrified and nauseous all the time that I want to puke. I don't care if I puke though because whenever Lance even sends me a text I feel myself jump out of my skin with happiness, and I just... I just know that Lance is worth puking over.”

I think my heart is going to explode. My little brother is practically falling in love before my eyes, and it's beautiful. 

“So, do you guys have another date planned?”

“Um, yeah. This time I'm planning it, and from my knowledge of Lance I think he's going to love it.”

“Good. Now, remember I'm here when you need me. Just please don't wake me up at the ass crack of dawn when I have the ability to sleep ever again.”

“Duly noted.”

I pat Keith on the back, and I retreat to my room. Honestly, I'm too excited now to fall asleep. It's amazing that I can even go to bed this early, but of course, I don't appreciate it. Maybe I should do something productive with my time, and be an amazing older brother?

**dadboi01 to León72Azul:** _Psstt ur Lance r8?_

I can always speed up the dating process a little bit, and even if I can't I can always familiarize myself with Lance. Not too much later, Lance responds.

**León72Azul to dadboi01:** _Ummm how do you know my name??_

**dadboi01 to León72Azul:** _i'm Keith's brother, Takashi. But like everyone calls me Shiro even Keith sooooo yeah_

**León72Azul to dadboi01:** _HOLY SHIT REALLY??? OMG IT IS AN HONOR YOUR BROTHER IS AMAZING_

**dadboi01 to León72Azul:** _Yeppp taught him everything I know. Take care of him alright??? He is fragile_

**León72Azul to dadboi01:** _YES SIR I WILL AHHHH DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE HAS PLANNED TOMORROW????_

**dadboi01 to León72Azul:** _nah but man he said that you will love it soooo you should tell me about it after it's done tomorrow..._

**León72Azul to dadboi01:** _AHHHHH I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!! THANKS SHIRO_

**dadboi01 to León72Azul:** _anytime my dude. Now sleep, cause tomorrow I need you to annoy the crap out of Keith_

**León72Azul to dadboi01:** _WILL DO. NIGHT!!!_

Lance is perfect for Keith. 

I fall asleep to future schemes and ideas that I want to pull off for them.

* * *

I stare down at the slightly wrinkled paper before my desk. It stares at me, and I stare back at it. I remember being so happy receiving this letter, and the joyous look on both of my parent's faces and Matt's. Everything came crashing down though when I thought about how Lance would react.

Lance and I have been tied at the hip since as far back as I can remember. I've seen him at his worst, which was back in middle school when he thought being himself was going to get him killed. Every day he slapped a smile on his face, and continued to say that he was 'fine'. This eventually boiled over to the point he couldn't get out of bed on the weekends, and painful phone calls to me saying that he wasn't okay. 

I was the person who gave him the courage to come out to his family, and eventually the school. I was the person who walked Lance to the office to report harassment and bullying, and I am the person who Lance has trusted his most personal secrets to. 

Everything that I have done for Lance, he has done the same for me.

No one dare picks on me in high school, since Lance pulls pranks on anyone who even tries anything. Lance is also incredibly smart and has made me feel normal when I know I'm not normal. Lance goes out of his way every single day to make sure that I'm happy, and I am happy when Lance is around.

Will going to Florida not only wreck Lance but myself as well?

I feel the tears start to fall, and they freely land on my acceptance letter. Unlike Lance who is a silent crier, I'm a fairly loud crier. No matter how much I try and choke back the tears, I keep hiccuping and gasping for more air so I can cry more. I wipe away as many tears as I could with my sleeve, but the endless supply of the unknown fuels my eyes even more. 

I hear my door creak open, so I stop breathing all together. From the reflection of my computer screen, I see that it's Matt standing in the doorway. 

“Pidge, are you okay?”

I continue to breathe again, but this time I cry even harder. Matt doesn't skip a beat. He picks me up from my computer chair and sets himself on top of my bed. He hugs me and brushes through my hair as I cry. None of us say anything for a long time, but with that time my breathing turns to normal and the salty water has ceased to exist.

“I-I'm sorry Matt. I just don't know what to do.”

Matt doesn't let go of me or stops his hand that is going through my hair.

“Oh, the mighty Pidge not knowing what to do? This is unheard of. What's the problem?”

“I have no idea if I should go to Florida, or stay here.”

Matt's hand that is in my hair removes itself.

“Well, I think I have a perfect solution for that. Do you mind if I share my secret with you?”

My interest peaks, and knowing Matt he isn't going to be an asshole about this, so I let him speak. I nod my head, and Matt proceeds to take out a coin from his pocket.

“Now, this might seem really stupid but doing the old coin flip to make your decisions always works for me. Heads you stay, Tails you go. Okay?”

“Matt, I don't think-”

“Hush Pidge. Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Do you trust me?”

I nod my head again. We move over to my desk again, and my body is going nuts with anticipation of what course of action I'll be taking. Matt flips the coin, and my heart almost pounds out of my chest. He catches the coin, but he doesn't show me what it landed on.

“Now Pidge, while the coin was in the air were you hoping to go, or stay?”

The fog that clouded my mind washes away in that instance. I can't believe the answer was in front of me this entire time.

“While it was in the air, I was hoping for it to be heads. I want to stay.”

Matt pockets the coin and hugs me again.

“See? I told you a good coin flip works wonders.”

I squeeze Matt back even harder. Another good reason to stay.

* * *

A late night snack should be a staple in everyone's diets. How can someone go for more than six hours without any food? That's beyond me. My alarm for my snack is exactly 2:00 AM and my snack stash is directly under my bed. Tonight I am feeling healthy, therefore I shall eat an apple.

I only carry red apples, because any other color disgusts Keith. I personally love yellow apples the most, but when you have a best friend who forgets to eat on a daily basis, you have to adjust. 

Speaking of Keith, I wonder how he is doing? After I gave him my pep talk the other day he's been fairly okay, but I feel like he isn't talking to me enough as before. Before Lance.

I shouldn't feel this way, but I do. I feel like whoever this Lance guy is, they're taking away my best friend right in front of me, and there is nothing I can do about it. I should vocalize this to Keith, but I haven't seen him this happy in such a long time and I don't want to ruin that. Maybe I should ask Shiro for help? Though Shiro would just tell me to tell Keith about my feelings, and I already know that.

Now just isn't the right time.

I brush away those thoughts again and decide to also do some late night scrolling through Tumblr. I mainly follow food blogs, which just makes my late night snack into a late night meal if I scroll too long. I love to try other people's recipes, and I have a lot of saved posts in my drafts that I still have to try out.

Wait, is Keith still up?

> _Red_Red_Red: I never understood the 'butterflies in the stomach' to describe love. What exactly does that mean? Is it suppose to make you feel anxious or feel light as a feather? There are much better analogies than that one. Love is waking up, and realizing you still have time to sleep. Love is that breathlessness after a sprint. Love is the anticipation of waiting for Santa Clause to visit you in the night. Love is so much more than butterflies in your stomach._

Keith's description of things is as always, amazing. I can always feel what he is trying to portray, and after that one, I feel jittery.

But the thing is, I know for a fact it's about Lance. I'm so happy for Keith to find someone who can also see the beauty that he has to offer, but I'm also jealous of how much attention Lance has been getting this past couple of days.

Maybe I should try and get to know him before I judge, but right now in the dead of night, I'm missing my best friend more than anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHH OKAY SO I GRADUATED AND iI'VE BEEN BUSY WITH THAT AND WORKING, SORRY GUYS.
> 
> ALSO SORRY FOR THE SHORTISH CHAPTER. I PROMISE THAT THE NEXT ONE WILL BE MUCH LONGER CONSIDERING IT'S GOING TO BE KEITH'S DATE NIGHT.
> 
> Also thanks so much for the 1000+ hits and the 100+ kudos!!! l love all the support you guys give me, and this Summer shall be a lot of updating this fic! I've also have been working on a Klance oneshot on the side, and should be release SOON.


	10. Start of Something New

Friday.

The only day that the school serves curly fries, and the day Lance and I will have our second date. I have everything I need set up once I get home, and Hunk said that he will make his caramel popcorn just for me to enjoy. Hunk is the best and I can't express that enough to him.

As of right now, Hunk and I are enjoying said curly fries. We always buy a lot since it's the only good school food here and then we share it amongst ourselves. Hunk loves mustard and ranch with his, and I only like ketchup. I wonder what Lance would like on his curly fries? Does he even like curly fries? I don't think I can date someone who doesn't like curly fries.

“Helloooo? Earth to Keith?”

I snap back to reality, and I notice that I haven't even cracked a good dent into my curly fries.

“Oh, sorry Hunk. I didn't sleep much last night.”

Hunk doesn't respond. Instead, he gets up to throw away his curly fry containers. Wait, why is Hunk mad at me? All I said was that I didn't sleep last night. Maybe it's because while I was thinking he was trying to talk to me? Knowing how Hunk is, he hates confrontation, but I'll have to confront him on this end. Hunk returns shortly after and I can tell that anger is festering inside him.

“Hey Hunk, are you mad at me?”

The moment after I finished my sentence, Hunk's face lightens up instantly.

“What? No why would I be mad at you? You've done nothing wrong, Keith.”

Oh? I guess I either read his face wrong or something besides me made Hunk angry. I still don't buy it though.

“Are you sure Hunk? You can tell me anything, you know that.”

Hunk's eyebrows furrow and he stares me directly into my eyes. This is the signature 'Garrett lying face'. 

“I'm fine Keith. Thanks for your concern though buddy!” 

Why is Hunk lying to me about how he's feeling? I was going to press further, but the bell signaling Lunch ending rings throughout the school. Crap, I still have all these curly fries left. Good thing I have an empty brown paper bag in my backpack. I start to fill the bag with all of my curly fries, and I see Hunk get up and start to walk away... Without me.

Now I just feel like I did something completely wrong and it's all my fault that Hunk feels bad right now. I don't even know what I did, but ideas start to form in my head as I walk to my next class.

What if he is starting to realize how terrible of a person I am? I'm honestly such a shit friend when it comes down to it and without Hunk, I would have nobody to talk to in school. I need Hunk more than anything, and here I am fucking it up.

I walk into Algebra II and almost slam my head on my desk from how much I hate myself right now. I sense that the other students are staring at me, and it just makes me hate myself more. I want to go home and Skype with Lance and make myself feel better.

“Please hand in your homework as you walk in. We have a tight schedule today.”

At first, I make no movement since I never have my homework done, but then I remember that yesterday Lance helped me not only do my homework, but also everything previous to that. I grab my folder and pick out eleven sheets of homework from the past month. I get up and turn all eleven assignments in, and my teacher looks extremely surprised.

“You finished all the homework that you have missing?”

I turn to her and I shrug in response. I turn around and return to my seat in the back corner. I feel a sense of accomplishment and I know that I have Lance to thank for that. I should thank him right now.

**Special K to Baby Blue:** _I stunned my teacher today with turning in all my Algebra II homework, so thanks :)_

I smile again at the nickname I gave Lance, and I can't think of any other name that would be better than Baby Blue. My thought process was going through stereotypical names like 'honey' and 'sweet pea', which landed me on the word 'baby'. Then I added his favorite color blue, and the rest is turning into history. 

The thoughts of Hunk subside for a bit since I figured I could talk to him after school on the bus and everything will be okay once we talk it out. We've been best friends for about eight years, and I'm not letting myself or him get in the way of that. For now, I will focus on class and a little bit of Lance on the side.

**Baby Blue to Special K:** _AWW I AM GLAD THAT I COULD HELP OUT!!! HOW IS YOUR DAY SO FAR BB??_

Lance so far today has been calling me every single cute name that he can think of. I, of course, keep dying whenever I read any of them.

**Special K to Baby Blue:** _Doing okay. I feel like Hunk is mad at me though, and I don't know why he would be?_

So far Lance has been amazing. Even if he can't give out any good advice, it's still nice to talk to Lance about it.

The class continues to take notes, and I sort of listen. It's not like I don't care, it's more like Lance has already taught me this and I'm still distraught. I feel numb, but I think that may just be the feeling of guilt. Time starts to fly by quickly as I stare at the board and tap my pencil against the desk repeatedly. Slowly I forget that Lance probably texted back, and I fall into a lifeless cycle of pretending to be listening while my inner turmoil starts to grow bigger and bigger. I know that I was going to push this off until I seen Hunk again after school, but I can't help but worry about Hunk.

The bell eventually rang me out of the darkest corners of my mind, and before I knew it I was sprinting down the hall and into the bathroom. There were people in here, so I took a stall and leaned myself against the door trying to catch my breath.

Why am I like this?

I take some time to gather myself. I think about Shiro and my parents, and about what dad will be preparing tonight for dinner. I think about Lance and how he Skyped me this morning. He introduced me to Kaltenecker and I seen him give a cow a kiss. I try my best to think of all the good times Hunk and I have had, and I find myself back to normal.

Whatever that means.

I hear the bell ring again, therefore I'm considered truant now. It's not like I wanted to attend my last class anyway. My mom is going to kill me, but for right now my mental health is more important. I wanted to call Shiro, but I realized he might be working so I called my Dad instead.

“Keith? Shouldn't you be in class right now?”

“Yeah... But I sorta don't feel good right now and I'm mentally exhausted. Is there any way that you could pick me up and I can go home?”

“Hmm... All right but you owe me a full explanation in the car ride home.”

“Thanks, Dad. I'll wait for you in the front of the school.”

We said our goodbyes and I exit the bathroom stall. I see what I look like and I look much paler than normal. I did forget to eat lunch, so I take out my paper bag of curly fries and start to eat them on my way out of the school. They're cold now, but the crunch is still there and it's making me feel better. 

Once I found myself outside, I took a seat on a bench that's right next to the entrance of the school. I think I can read Lance's text now... Or the five texts he sent.

**Baby Blue to Special K:** _Hmm that is odd. I'm sure that you guys can figure it out though!_  
 **Baby Blue to Special K:** _Babe you doing okay?_  
 **Baby Blue to Special K:** _I wish I was there to comfort you better_  
 **Baby Blue to Special K:** _I just want to let you know that I care about you a lot and that I'm here for you if you need me_  
 **Baby Blue to Special K:** _As my dad always says “Al mal tiempo, buena cara”. Which roughly means “Put a good face to the bad times”. I'm cheering for you <3_

Now I feel like a bigger asshole. I don't deserve Lance at all, yet here he is. 

**Special K to Baby Blue:** _Thank you so much, Lance. I'll tell you all about it later today. <3_

Though I still don't feel quite there yet, I feel better between eating and reading Lance's texts. Since I'll be leaving school, I shoot Hunk a quick text letting him know I won't be here after school.

**Dork to Nerd:** _Hey I got sick and left school early, so I won't be at the bus stop. Sorry._

It's kinda the truth, but a really stretched out truth.

My Dad comes up the school's parking lot soon enough, and I climb in and buckle my seat in silence. We don't start talking until we are out of the parking lot.

“So, tell me about your day?”

“Well, it was pretty okay until about Lunch time.”

“What happened at Lunch time?”

I was adverting my Dad's gaze since when he wasn't paying attention to the road he was trying to catch my eyes. I watch the road with him instead.

“Well, I think Hunk is mad at me.”

My dad doesn't laugh like Shiro does, or scoffs like my Mother. Instead, he is quiet and asks questions.

“Why would Hunk be mad at you?”

“I have no idea. I keep torturing myself with what the possibility could be, and I think I had a panic attack between that and forgetting to eat lunch.”

“Well, I'm sure whatever Hunk is thinking he will tell you soon. You know Hunk can't keep secrets to save his life.”

That is really true. I'm surprised he even lied to me at Lunch, especially since he knows I can tell when he's lying. Whatever Hunk is internalizing much be much worse than what I'm going through, so tomorrow I'll get to the bottom of this.

The rest of the car ride was my Dad and I singing to terrible country songs. My Mom loves country music, and the rest of the family only knows the words because of her. Now we ironically enjoy country music?

We arrive at home, and since it's just me and my Dad we decide what to make for dinner. We thought after careful consideration that tonight was a good night for burritos, so we both made them together. It's been awhile since I had time together with just my Dad, and honestly, I need to spend even more time with him. Maybe this weekend we could make dinner again?

The burritos were done, but it was another two hours until mom and Shiro arrived. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to eat with them since I have Lance tonight, so I told my Dad that I'll be eating the burritos upstairs.

“Why are you eating upstairs?”

Oh shit. Is this the time I mention Lance? I can't ever lie to my family, so I guess this is it.

“Well, I sorta... Have an online date tonight?”

Great wording Keith. You are such an amazing writer, why can't that translate into speaking?

My Dad instead of looking confused, looks really happy?

“That's great! Who is he?”

“Uh, his name is Lance. He lives in Wisconsin.”

My Dad pats me on the back.

“Wisconsin? How did you meet a boy that lives so far away?”

“There is this thing called the internet Dad.”

“Right. Well, I hope that works out for you, and that I better meet him if it does!”

That went a lot better than expected. I bet once my Mom finds out she will be just as extra as Shiro.

Now, it's almost time for Lance and I's date!

I bring my food up to my room and I check to see if my setup is still good. I have my Bigfoot footie pajamas out for me to change in, and I have the movie that Lance and I are going to watch ready to go. So far I feel like I've gotten to know Lance pretty well, so therefore I'm assuming with all my previous knowledge that he is a High School Musical fan. 

I think movie nights are a perfect date idea in my opinion. 

I proceed to change into the footie pajamas and I go to text Lance to see if he is ready, but I notice that Hunk texted back from earlier.

**Nerd to Dork:** _Ok_

All he did was respond, but man do I feel like shit now. Here I am trying to woo someone and my best friend isn't doing okay? This isn't right.

**Special K to Baby Blue:** _Is it fine if I delay our date by a half hour? I need to know about Hunk right now._

I change out of my pajamas and into sweatpants and a hoodie. I rush myself across the street and almost run into the Garrett's door. Hunk's mother opens the door and gestures me inside. We don't exchange words, but I think we both know that Hunk isn't doing well right now. I climb the stairs to Hunk's door, and I knock.

“Come in.”

The door slightly creeks when I push it open, and Hunk is playing on his DS in bed.

“Oh, hey Keith. Feeling better now?”

“Uh, kinda. Not really though.”

I take a seat on the beanbag chair on the floor. I always sit here when I'm at Hunk's, so the bean bag has my body shape.

“Are you mad at me Hunk? Please be honest because I can tell something is up and I don't know what to do about it.” 

Hunk looks at me shocked, but he closes his DS and gives me all of his attention.

“I'm not mad at you Keith, I'm just not feeling the greatest.”

I almost burst out of the bean bag chair and started screaming, but I didn't.

“But I know that something is up and I want to help out! I am your best friend and I can't stand knowing that you're hurt! I can't just stand by and ignore that!”

Hunk looks away from my eyes and I feel myself just get angrier. It's taking everything I have not to walk out of this room and hit the first thing I see.

“Okay, I get it. The truth is I've been jealous of Lance.”

What? Lance?

“What do you mean?”

“I mean all you ever talk about now is Lance. It hasn't even been a week yet and you've been cramming every single minute of the day with him even when I'm sitting right next to you! It's like you don't need me anymore... But the thing is I'm so happy that you found him. I am ecstatic that you and Lance get along and that you both like each other a lot. I just can't help but feel I'm being left behind.”

Oh no... Hunk...

“You know, nobody in this entire world could ever replace you Hunk. There is absolutely no way I could ever think of leaving you behind. We've been through so much together, and I would be a fucking idiot if I didn't see that you are incredible. I'm so sorry that I've been accidentally ignoring you, cause I would never make that intentional. I guess I got way too excited with Lance?”

Both Hunk and I were in tears, but both of us were smiling.

“A little excited? Try that you are over the moon and you are waiting for a marriage proposal.”

“HUNK?!”

Hunk bursts out laughing, and I start laughing as well. Why was I even concerned in the first place? Then a thought came into my mind.

“Hey Hunk, do you want to meet Lance tonight?”

Hunk is wiping away his tears with his hand, and I'm doing the same.

“Really? Isn't tonight your big date night? Wait- OH MY GOSH I JUST RUINED YOUR DATE NIGHT DIDN'T I??”

“No no no, you didn't buddy. I just delayed it a bit. Besides I would rather be here making sure you are okay than be on a date, okay?”

Hunk smiles and nods at me. Hunk agrees that he wants to meet Lance, so I pull up Skype on my phone and text him the details. He agrees and that's how I got Hunk and Lance to meet.

“HEYYY SPECIAL K AND CHIPHUNK.”

Chiphunk? I'm gonna start using that one now. Since Hunk is a lot more friendly than I am, he imminently takes a liking to Lance. It was a short five minute conversation, and it was mostly Lance and Hunk who talked through it. I told Lance that I'll be back on in fifteen minutes for our date, and he looked like he was bursting with excitement.

“Okay! It was awesome meeting you Hunk!”

“It was nice meeting you too Lance! You should add me on Tumblr and I'll give you all my gaming information!”

“Ditto!”

Once I hit the end call button, Hunk grabs me by the shoulders.

“I had no idea Lance was that awesome?? Man, I am so glad that out of everyone you picked him.”

“Yeah, I'm glad I picked him too.”

We said our goodbyes, and I rush home to get ready for Lance again. 

The pajamas are on, the movie is ready, and Lance has already texted me multiple times within that fifteen minutes.

**Baby Blue to Special K:** _ok ok ok but Hunk is amazing?? He is such a sweetie omg_  
 **Baby Blue to Special K:** _like he is so precious?? his blog is amazing too_  
 **Baby Blue to Special K:** _also I am so excited to see you again even tho I saw you like five minutes ago_  
 **Baby Blue to Special K:** _holy shit that sounded gay... ayyyeee ;)_

My heart is filled with affection, and I just really want to hug Lance to death??? 

**Special K to Baby Blue:** _Hunk was the person who made me realize I was gay. Also are you ready?_

I make sure that my door is locked before I get settled it. Can't have Shiro randomly barging in like yesterday. My burritos are now kinda cold, but hey food is food and I don't want to go downstairs in my Bigfoot pajamas just to heat them up. My phone vibrates shortly after I have the movie up and ready to play.

**Baby Blue to Special K:** _Just got my pajamas on! I'm ready to get my flirt game on ;)_  
 **Baby Blue to Special K:** _Also holy shit Hunk made you realize you were gay?? For me I realized I was bi when I had a crush on both Danny Phantom and Kim Possible._

I really really REALLY like Lance. The Skype call notification starts, and I put up the hood on my pajamas as I click on the green button. The screen loads to Lance, but it's him in a Stitch footie pajamas. It's completely unfair for him to be even cuter.

“Omg... Keith, do you really own Bigfoot pajamas? Because holy shit you look cute.”

“I look cute? That's funny coming from the cutest Cuban I've ever laid eyes on.”

I see Lance bury his face into his hands, and he starts screaming.

“KEITH WARN ME BEFORE YOU SAY SUCH CUTE THINGS AHHH!!! I AM LEGIT DYING RIGHT NOW. THIS IS THE BEST DATE I HAVE EVER BEEN ON.”

I start to laugh really hard. I want to stop laughing, but I can't control it. I start to cover my mouth, but my attempt to stop my laughter failed.

“KEEEIITTHHH STOP LAUGHING YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO BE THIS CUTE WHILE YOU ARE THIS FAR AWAY FROM ME. YOU HEAR ME MISTER???”

I start to laugh even harder. I want to stop laughing, so I try to hold my breath. I take in all the air I could muster, and I hold in the rest of my laughter. That does work, but I'm still a little giggly. I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard? Have I ever laughed that hard?

“Keith buddy, are you alright?”

“U-Um, yeah I'm fine. I don't know why I thought it was that funny?”

“Either way you are adorable when you laugh. I want to see you laugh more.”

My face was already warm from all of the laughing, but man it's on fire now.

“S-So um... Any guesses for what I have in store for you tonight?”

Lance repositions himself on his bed, and while he was doing that he had the same cute thinking expression from the past few days. He is now laying down on his bed, but he has his head tucked in his arms as he is sprawled on his stomach.

“Well, I thought maybe we would play a board game of some sort.”

“A board game?”

“Yeah, or a video game. I mean there are limited things to do while online dating, so my guess was a game of some sort. Was I right??”

“Well, you are right about the limited things to do part. You are wrong when it came to the game idea. We can do that for next time?”

“Awww babe there's going to be a next time?”

My heart jumps every single time Lance calls me anything else besides Keith, whether it's through voice or text.

“Well, I am assuming that we both like each other enough to continue, yes?”

Lance gives me a wide smile, and I melt.

“I like you lots! So for sure next time we have something planned!”

I smile back at Lance, and I tell him to pull up rabb.it. I tell him all the needed info, and I click the play button. I see Lance's face light up once he realized that is was High School Musical playing.

“HOLY SHIT HOW DID YOU KNOW I LOVE HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL?!”

“I sorta just figured that it was in your top ten favorite movies.”

Throughout the movie, Lance quoted about half of it. Even when there wasn't music, he had all of Sharpay's lines memorized. In the beginning of the movie, we both decided that I was Troy he was Gabriella. Then, of course, Lance was Sharpay and I was Ryan. We made the deal that whenever 'our characters' would sing, we would have to as well. It was sorta awkward when I sang by myself, but Lance didn't make it as awkward. I had a break for the 'Status Quo' song, and I could really appreciate Lance's face and voice. I sometimes forgot some of the lyrics because I was too focused on Lance. We did have some conversation between the movie, but most of the conversation was just flirting with each other. 

Not that I minded.

The screen goes black, and both Lance and I are laughing idiots.

“Keith, you are now officially my Troy oh my god.”

Okay, this is it, Keith. Establish that relationship.

“Well, if you want me to be the Troy to your Gabriella you're gonna have to ask that first.”

I'm praying that Lance took the hint and I think that maybe he did because he stopped laughing.

“U-Um... Was that what I think that was?!”

My mind goes blank. How am I supposed to respond? I don't respond, so Lance and I have a staring contest for a few seconds before Lance spoke up again.

“Well, I'm just gonna say it since it's been on my mind since the first song came on. Keith, will you officially be my boyfriend?”

My heart jump starts to life and it is beating faster than ever before. I thought my mind was blank before, but now I have temporary amnesia. I tried to speak, but I couldn't form the right words. I didn't Lance to think I said no, so I start nodding my head vigorously. Lance beams.

“Yes! I have the most amazing boyfriend ever!”

My mouth feels like cotton candy, so I quickly take a sip out of my water bottle. I feel like I can talk again, so I say the first thing that came to mind.

“Holy fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot woot I managed to update before I had to work again!! Also, we just hit the chapter ten mark, which should always be celebrated. Thanks for all the support so far~


	11. #Klance

Dating Keith is probably the best and worse decision of my life. Obviously, it's more good than bad, but let me explain myself.

The first night I couldn't sleep a wink. I was practically shaking in my bed and constantly thinking about future date ideas that Keith and I could do. I decided that the best feeling in the entire world is seeing Keith happy, so that's what I'll do.

The following morning I couldn't help but call Keith. I wanted to say good morning and of course, start my boyfriend duties!

“Morning Special K! How did you sleep?”

There was slight shuffling on Keith's end of the line... Oh no did I wake him up??

“I didn't if that's what you mean. I couldn't sleep...”

Oh sHIT.

“Oh did I wake you up??”

“Kinda in a sense? I think I was just about to sleep or something like that. It's fine though, I would much rather talk to you than sleep right now.”

He is so adorable, I just want to cry.

From that morning on, we tried to call each other every chance we got. This includes the morning, lunch, and of course before bed. We never really decided on this schedule together, it sorta just happened. I adore every single laugh and expression Keith gives me and according to Pidge, that's all I ever talk about anymore.

“Okay, but did you know that Keith-”

“-has a black belt. I know Lance.”

Pidge is my biggest supporter despite my constant ramblings, along with Matt who can't seem to get over that Keith and I met over a Tumblr conspiracy post. 

I can't believe it either Matt.

It has been a week since Keith and I started dating, which is enough time to point out what is on the bad side of this relationship.

For one, absolutely nobody in school believes Keith is real. I would never put Keith through the horror of my classmates interrogating him, therefore I try my best to prove it with selfies.

“Oh, you just got that off of Google!”

No, fuck you, Brad. Keith is too beautiful to even be on Google.

Secondly, I have found it hard to even tell my parents I am dating Keith.

It was easy with Rex since he is my brother, but when it comes to the rents I am royally screwed. Even though my family is accepting and blah blah blah, they are also really traditional when it comes to dating. They expect for all of their children to bring their date home for dinner, go through baby books, and have the 'dating talk'.

I can't really do that with Keith... Which brings me to the most terrible aspect of our relationship.

I, Lance McClain Rivera, can't touch Keith Shirogane.

It's a crime really. I feel so loved, yet I have never felt this lonely in my entire life. I know Keith feels the same way since we talked about meeting up.

“Keith, I just really want to kiss you right now.”

Keith is already red in the face from my earlier comments, but he nods his head.

“Yeah, me too. This long distance thing is so hard.”

“I mean, we don't live terribly far away... We could try and meet up one day?”

Keith repositions himself on the screen, and he sighs.  
'  
“Yeah we could, but considering that it's hours upon hours away and it's still the school year I highly doubt that we will be able to see each other until the Summer. That's so far away...”

It's true, that is a long time to wait. It's only been a few days, but I already feel this unbearable pain whenever I have the urge to touch Keith. 

“I feel like we can do it together. We're crazy enough to pull it off, right?”

Keith smiles back at me, and I know that we are both fully committed to whatever comes our way.

* * *

I asked Keith for his address so I could send him things, so we swap area codes and all that jazz. I had the greatest idea in mind for the first gift, so whenever I had the chance to start crocheting I would. Keith is absolutely going to love this!

“What are you making?”

I was sitting on the couch with Diego, but Mariana came along and startled me.

“Oh uh, it's a gift for... someone?”

Smooth as crunchy peanut butter.

Mariana takes it upon herself to squish between Diego and me. She changes the channel quickly from Disney to Nickelodeon and Diego doesn't complain.

“Who is this 'someone'?”

Mariana uses the finger air quotes that I taught her, and I am proud.

“If I tell you, you have to promise me you won't blab about it to anyone except Rex and I, okay?”

“What? Why just you and Rex? Is it what I think it is...?”

I whisper only five words into her ear.

“This is for my boyfriend.”

Mariana starts squealing. 

“Oh my gosh! Can I meet him? When is he coming over for dinner? Why aren't we telling anyone?”

I simply put a finger over my mouth to tell her to quiet down, and she starts to frantically look around to see if anyone except Diego overheard. Luckily both of my parents are out, and Jonesy is at his new job.

“First off Mariana, he doesn't live around here.”

I feel my chest hurt when I said that fact, and I wish it wasn't a fact.

“What? Like he lives in Alaska or China or something?”

“Exactly. He lives in Texas. Which is why we can't tell the majority of the family because they probably won't be supportive of a relationship that's so...”

I take the time to find the right word for what older people like my folks would say, and it was harder than I thought.

“...So odd, I guess. I don't think they will understand right away, so it's a secret for now. Promise me you won't speak about it to any of your friends please?”

Mariana agrees to my terms, and we spend the rest of our time in silence watching Miraculous Ladybug.

* * *

I finished Keith's gift a few days ago, and surprisingly it only took me two days to complete it, but I needed to add a couple of touches to it to make it super special. Along with this gift, I shall send him one of my hoodies since it's like a rule or something to have your significant other to have your hoodie. Finally, Mariana made some art of us since now she is our number one fan. After I showed her some Keith selfies she started working on some 'Klance' fan art. After Keith gets those I am for sure posting them on Tumblr.

The day came where we both received our package, and we agreed that we wanted to Skype while we opened them. I got Keith's a day early, and it bugged me to no end that I couldn't open it. But here we are, ready to open up the first packages that we sent to each other.

“So... You want to go first, Lance?”

My stomach is in knots from what possibilities could be in the box, and I nod furiously.

“Heck yeah, I want to go first! This box has been staring me down for the past 24 hours!”

I take the box cutter that I stole from Rex earlier and I start to peel away the left over tape. The first item I see was a hoodie. This is too perfect.

“You gave me your hoodie!? I am gonna cry.”

It's an all red hoodie with an unknown logo, but I don't care because I smell the hoodie and I now know what Keith smells like. He smells like a fresh shower, mixed with that one candle I found at Yankee Candle. It was called Mountain Lodge I believe?

“This is the best present ever I'm gonna scream.”

“Lance, there is more in there than just my hoodie.”

“Oh right!”

I keep the hoodie in my lap as I continue with the package. I pull out what looks like to be a black notebook?

“Oh um, so... That is one of my old notebooks from last year. Since you keep saying you like the things I write, I figured that would be a nice gift?”

Oh god if I thought I couldn't breathe after the hoodie, I was seriously hyperventilating now.

“What??? Holy shit I can't believe- Are you sure that you want me to have this? This must be so personal and you're just?? Oh my gosh.”

I start to hug the small journal to my chest. So many of Keith's thoughts and time is in this journal, and I feel like I don't deserve this at all.

“I'm sure of it. In fact, once you are done with that one you can send it back and I can send you a different one. I have like, fifty of these things.”

I'm shocked that Keith trusts me this much already, so I don't fight him on this even though I still don't feel worthy of reading his journals. 

“Thank you so much, Keith. This means a lot to me.”

Keith doesn't say anything, but I can tell that he is proud of what he gave. I place the journal carefully to the side where it won't get damaged by anything near it, and I continue to the last item in the box.

I pull out a CD, but it's not just any CD. It's one of those blank CD things that people usually burn something onto it. In black sharpie was Keith's handwriting that said 'Keith's Top 50'.

“Did you seriously make me a mix tape??”

Keith's laugh comes through my headphones.

“Yeah, I did. Instead of sharing my Spotify playlist, I figured this would be more romantic.”

I can't wait to listen to this later, especially when Matt is driving and I can pop this baby in.

“Okay time for you to open mine! Now promise me you won't cry.”

Keith laughs again while opening up my box.

“Why would I cry-”

Keith stops mid sentence to look down at the first item. I made Keith a Mothman plushie.

“Lance, did you make this?”

“Yep! Crocheted it all by myself! Do you like it?”

I ask him if he likes it just for show because obviously, he LOVES it. 

Keith hugs the tiny Mothman, and my heart flutters at the sight. Keith is the most adorable person I have ever met.

“I do. I like this a lot Lance, thank you.”

I can tell that he is having a hard time processing his emotions, therefore I am proud that I got him to stop working. I saw him get up to place the plushie on his bed, and he comes back and pulls out the hoodie.

“We had the same idea?”

“Yep! I was dying when I first found out you also gave me a hoodie. We match now!”

I gave Keith a NASA hoodie, and he did the exact same thing I did and smelt it.

“You smell like the pool and... mangoes?”

“Oh I usually wear that hoodie after a swim meet, and I can't explain the mango smell? I mean I love mangoes if that helps? Or maybe I do just smell like mangoes... I'm gonna have to ask someone to smell me now to confirm.”

Keith chuckles at my rambling and he decides to put on the hoodie. I am fucking dying oh no. He is wearing my fucking hoodie.

Keith takes out the art that was at the bottom of the box and physically gasps.

“Did you draw these?”

“Nope! My sister Mariana did. She is our biggest fan now, and that's all the art she did in one day. She tells me there is more coming.”

I see Keith on my screen looking around his room, eyes darting everywhere.

“What are you doing babe?”

“I'm trying to remember where I put my thumbtacks. I need to put these up on my wall pronto.”

I beam at him and I can't wait to tell Mariana later what Keith's reaction was. 

Overall I am happy with my gifts and Keith's reaction to my gifts. That night I cuddled Keith's hoodie while reading excerpts from his journal. I was halfway through the mixtape when I fell asleep.

* * *

> _Leon72Azul: Did I mention that I have the best boyfriend ever? Like seriously he is so adorable and caring and ughhhh I want to squish him. My sister even made art of us! #klance_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp I was gone for a month and ten days. My job made me not write for about three weeks, and the rest of that time depression hit me hard, but heck I am back! This chapter is short, but it is sweet so I hope you guys appreciate that. 
> 
> Also feel free to send me art! I will for sure put it in the fic and do shout outs as well! c:
> 
> Thanks for reading!!


	12. Legolas Is My Dad

> **TW: DEPICTIONS OF PANIC ATTACKS AND SLIGHT MENTIONS OF SUICIDE**

* * *

_I feel light._

_I slowly flutter my eyes open and I start to question why I'm on the ground._

_Did I faint?_

_No, it was them again. They pushed me hard enough this time where I got knocked out._

_It's getting worse._

_Don't tell Pidge._

_Or Matt._

_Or Mama._

_Get up and clean yourself up._

_Don't let them see the weak parts of yourself._

_I unstuck myself from the pavement. I was still at school when they got me._

_I'm so stupid. Of course, they waited till I started walking home. Fuck._

_I can't go home like this, so instead I make the walk of shame back into the school. The hallways were still brightly lit, but no one was in sight when I entered. No one was in the bathroom either, so I take the time to wash my face. I have a new cut on my cheek, but this isn't the first time._

_Makeup is another best friend of mine._

_After I finish applying the concealer, I take a closer look at myself._

_Why can't I be normal?_

BEEP BEEP BEEP

My heart thumps wildly as my eyes shot open wide. I feel sticky from sweat and my stomach wants to not exist. Why did I have that flashback? Why did I have that specific day come back at me? I feel my rib cage tighten as my body starts to shake with an oncoming sobbing session. With my head in my knees, I continue to cry quietly trying so hard to wipe away all the hot liquid pouring from my face. 

Loud buzzing comes from the left of me, and I know it's Keith calling. I can't let him hear me like this, so I let it go to voicemail. I'm so sorry Keith, I'm so so sorry. 

I have to call Pidge.

I grab my phone, and already Keith has texted me.

**Special K to Baby Blue: Hey are you up?**

I don't reply. I click on Pidge's contact and press the call button. After three rings Pidge answers.

“What the fuck Lance. I had like ten more minutes before I had to get up.”

My throat feels so blocked, that when I tried to speak I just made a choking sound. I heard shuffling on Pidge's end.

“Lance? Lance are you okay?”

I try to inhale, but it's so hard to breathe that I end up breaking down into more tears.

“Lance I'll be there as fast as I can, okay? Just continue to cry and I will be there soon.”

I somehow made a humming sound giving Pidge the okay, and they hung up. I put my phone down and I shove my face into my pillow sobbing again. I am so weak. It was only a dream, yet I'm reacting so badly to this. I thought I was over this?

My anxiety gets worse whenever my phone buzzes. I know its all Keith. It just is. I'm being a terrible fucking boyfriend and I don't deserve him. I never did deserve him.

* * *

I'm already on the bus ride to school with Hunk, and Lance still hasn't answered my texts or calls. Something is seriously wrong.

“Keith, I'm sure he is fine. Maybe he slept in by accident?”

“No, he couldn't have. He can barely sleep as it is and he is an extremely light sleeper. Something is wrong I can feel it Hunk. Do you think I should try calling Pidge?”

“Not a bad idea.”

I find the conversation that Pidge and I have and I click the call button. I thought the phone would have gone to voicemail, but Pidge picked up at the last second.

“Hey, Keith. It's okay he's going to be fine.”

Wait, so there was something wrong???

“What happened?”

“He woke up with a panic attack, but he's fine now. I calmed him down enough and I got Matt to call him in sick for today. Right now he is eating and watching cartoons.”

A panic attack? 

“Pidge, is panic attacks frequent with Lance?”

I know Pidge is hesitant with their answer, but they continue to explain.

“Not as frequent as before, but yes this does happen every once in a while. They aren't as bad as this one is though so I'm going to take care of him for the day. I put his phone away for now, but I'm sure once he feels better again he will call you. Also please don't push him to talk about his feelings. He will tell you everything once he's ready, okay?”

We exchanged a few more words before I clicked out of the call. If I could ask for absolutely anything it would be to be with Lance right now. Not here on a bus in Texas going to school. 

I guess all I can do is wait for Lance to call me.

* * *

I feel exhausted.

That was probably one of my worst panic attacks ever and it was caused by a dream no less. The dream was a memory, specifically the last time I got beat up. My dream ended in the bathroom, but when I woke up my memory continued. 

I remember when I got home my mom had already made chili. I sat with all my other siblings and both my parents as we talked about our day. I didn't say anything except that it was fine. Diego back then finally could speak proper words and never stopped talking, and Mariana was super into finger painting. Rex had finally saved up enough money to buy a motorcycle and Jonesy had just got fired from Culvers in our local mall. 

We laughed throughout our eating, but I continued to pick around the meat in the chili and eat the beans instead while nodding my head. I just remember thinking in my head that I can continue like this and everything will be fine.

Obviously, it wasn't.

I went to my room that night and thought about... well, you know. I called Pidge and I decided to tell them everything. I remember crying a lot, and I remember how angry Pidge was. 

Everything after that became such a blur. My life turned around so quickly when I told my family about who I am, and when my middle school bullies got what they deserved. 

Things are better now.

I still have Pidge in my life. They are not going anywhere and Pidge's family is also my own family. I have four amazing siblings and two fantastic parents that have supported me since I came out. Finally, I have one heck of a beautiful boyfriend who cares about me.

Lance, you have come a long way and you will continue to be better and better. 

Be proud of yourself.

“Hey Lance, how are you feeling?”

Pidge came back from their phone conversation, and I can tell Pidge is still a little freaked out from earlier. I was sorta on the floor in the fetal position.

“I'm doing a lot better now, thank you.”

They sit next to me on the couch. All of my siblings are out either at school or their job (in Jonesy's case finding a job) and my parents are outside on the farm. Matt is also here, but he is helping outside as well.

“Well, I'm glad you're doing okay. Just to let you know though it was Keith who called me. I told him you were fine and that you will call him when you're ready.”

“Thank you Pidge. I do feel shitty that I ignored him, but honestly, in the moment, I didn't trust him enough to see that side of me yet. I do care about him a lot, but I'm still not that close with him like I am with you. Maybe one day I will be, but this is all still new.”

Pidge wraps their arms around me into a hug.

“Ya' know, I appreciate that you trust me more than someone you just met about a month ago.”

“Yeah, I'm glad to... You know, Spring Break is coming up soon. We should plan something.”

Every year Pidge and I do a Harry Potter marathon for Spring Break, but we also do something else on the side.

“Yeah, we should. How about a Lord of the Rings marathon?”

“Now we're talking. Maybe we should start early?”

Pidge laughs as they make their way to the large cabinet where my LOTR collection is.

* * *

> _Red_Red_Red: Waiting is one of my failed hobbies_

I kept drumming my fingers on the desk as people continue to take their tests. I already turned mine in, thanks to Lance teaching me everything I know. I look down at the NASA hoodie that I'm currently wearing and I sigh.

All I want is to hear his voice. The only thing that's keeping me sane is the smell of chlorine and scrolling through Tumblr. There are no new posts from Lance, but I think he is doing okay right now. 

I think I'm doing okay as well. Yes, I yearn for his voice, but I trust that Pidge is taking care of him and that Lance will contact me soon, if not sometime today.

Hunk was nice enough to invite me over to play some video games to take my mind off of everything and I happily accepted. I'm excited to beat him in Smash and Mario Kart after school. Maybe we could also bake something?

A person to the right of me shuffles out of their desk to turn in their test and it breaks me away from my current thought. It seems like everyone is done except for the ones who didn't study. I'm glad that I can fit that cookie cut of a smart Asian thanks to Lance. If only I could do better in History... Maybe Lance is good at History too?

The bell rings throughout the school, and I make my way out of the class and rush myself to the other side of the school for my Economics class. 

It's well after 5:00 in the evening and Pidge and I are dying. We thirsted over Legolas practically all day. Once my siblings got home they all joined in on our little marathon and it got way too overcrowded, so Pidge and I called it. Pidge and Matt left shortly after, and I retreated into my room ready to call Keith.

The first thing I noticed was that there were no new texts from him. There was just the ones from this morning on my phone. The second thing I notice is that Keith posted a lot on Tumblr today and I can't wait to go through them all tonight before bed. I click the call button anxious to hear his voice again.

“...Lance?”

“Hey, babe. Sorry, I went AFK, but I'm back now.”

I hear shuffling and words on Keith's end. It sounds like he is with Hunk at the moment.

“Oh did I interrupt you and Hunk?”

“No, you didn't. We just ended a Smash match it's okay.”

Silence ensues.

“So um, are you feeling better?”

I wish Keith could see me smile.

“Yep! I'm doing a lot better. Honestly, though it was a bad panic attack, but after everything I had a kick ass day with my Pidgey, so everything is good.”

“That's good... You know if you ever want to talk about that with me you can, but if you don't I understand.”

I already know the answer to this.

“I have been thinking Keith, and as much as I would like to say I know everything about you I really don't.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that when I was panicking you just so happen to start calling me. It scared the shit out of me and in that moment I wanted Pidge more than anything. It made me realize that you had no idea about the bad sides of me even if I verbally told you everything.”

“Okay, I see what you're saying. I guess I haven't been sharing my bad points either...”

“Exactly! Like I know you've told me that you're quick to anger, but I've never seen you angry!”

“That's... Really true actually holy shit.”

“Yeah, I don't think this is necessarily bad though. It just means that I get to look forward to unlocking more parts of you even if they are considered bad. Like I've been considered very annoying from time to time and I can't wait to annoy the shit out of you to where you get angry Now that's what I call bonding!”

Keith's laugh rings in my ear.

“You know, not only are you very smart but you're also very wise Lance.”

“Meh I am only allowed to be wise two times a year and this was my second use. Back to being naive again.”

Keith laughs again and I could hear that forever. We talk only a bit about how our days were before we both decided to hang up.

There is so much I need to learn about Keith, but I have all the time in the world so I don't mind one bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friendly reminder that bros before hoes is real~
> 
> Sorry for legit being away for 5ever. College hit me like a bus and I was also said bus driver lmao. I am right now not doing my math homework so fight me. 
> 
> Anyways, it's a short ass chapter I know, but the upcoming chapter will progress the story so much further and I can't wait to write it and for you guys to read it! 
> 
> Until then enjoy~!


	13. Helpless Teenagers

> _León72Azul: Writing... Has never been a forte of mine. Throughout my life I've been called a “Jack of all trades, master of none” which honestly I'm fine with. I can do a lot of things just fine and that's alright with me._
> 
> _I just wish I could form the right words to express how much @Red_Red_Red writings mean to me_
> 
> _I just read an entire notebook of just his writings and J E S U S_
> 
> _I need my next fix PRONTO_
> 
> _My favorite line from this entire notebook is “I want to drown myself in a toilet”_
> 
> _Which honestly describes my Freshman experience lmaoooo_
> 
> _Pls follow my boyfriend y'all_

There is multiple reasons as to why I like the color red, but of course blushing to the point where I am red is not one of those reasons. I get off my bed and put my phone to the side. I have to find Lance the next journal that I want to send him.

On the floor underneath my bed is where I keep all of them in multiple boxes. Do I go for something in the beginning or do I do something more recent? I think I gave him one more recent the first time around, so I guess I'll give him one of my middle school ones. The box on the far left is the one with all the middle school ones, so I pull that out into the middle of my room and start digging up the dirt of the past.

After like my tenth journal I started numbering them. As of right now I am on number sixty four and all the ones in the box I pulled out don't go past twenty. Now... try to find something semi embarrassing for Lance.

Before I could really get down and dirty with the dust on these things I hear someone knocking on the door.

“Keith, time to eat.”

“Okay Shiro.”

I'll get back to this eventually. I wipe off my hands and get my phone before heading down stairs. Lance is supposed to call me within the next hour, so I should eat quickly. I turn the corner at the end of the stairs and I see that my dad made chicken and rice which is Shiro’s favorite… Did something happen to Shiro? The last time we had this meal was when he accidentally ran over a deer and before that it was strictly Shiro’s birthday meal. Quietly I make my way to my seat and wait for the rest of my family to be settled in. Mom is in the living room trying to finish up her business call and Shiro is helping dad set up the table. To pass the time I pour myself a glass of water. By the time I finished the first full glass out of anxiety everyone was at the table ready to eat… or talk. My dad was the first to speak.

“So Takashi, there was something you wanted to announce?”

We haven’t even served ourselves food yet, meaning this must be important.

“Uh, yeah. This might be a lot for you guys to take in but… I decided to drop out of college.”

I hear the pin drop in the room and I turn to my mom for her reaction.

“...Was it because you weren’t able to pay for college? You know we could have helped out more Takashi.”

“No its not that its just- I don’t… I don’t think college is the right thing for me in life right now. I need a break from it at the very least. I honestly don’t want to go back and I want to pursue something different. I’ll be hitting my thirties in five years and I want to do things while I’m young enough to do them.”

I’ve seen my mom lose her cool a handful of times, this time being one of them.

“Takashi, if you get a degree doors will open for you! You’re so close to getting your degree, aren’t you?”

Shiro starts scooping the rice onto his plate.

“Actually, this last semester I had I failed three classes.”

My mother gasps and my father starts choking on his food.

“Takashi, why are you failing your classes? Are you just spending time partying instead of studying? Your lack of time management should be no excuse for you to be failing classes.”

Shiro continues to get himself chicken to add to his rice. I can tell within his facial expression that he is pissed.

“No actually a lot of my time was spent crying at three in the morning because I felt like I failed not only as a son and a student but I failed myself thinking that I could pile more crap on top of myself and be fine with it. The amount of times I had a panic attack… or passed out drunk thinking that I didn’t want to wake up is… wrong. I don’t want to feel like that again.”

The table goes silent. I knew that Shiro has been struggling with this for the past few years, but never have I guessed at this level of stress. I decide to speak up.

“No matter what I’ll support you.”

My dad nods his head and puts his hand on Shiro’s shoulder.

“It’s true you know. We want what is best for you and if you think that college isn’t the best thing then so be it… So can we start eating already?”

My mom still looks mad, but she quietly makes her peace by digging into the rice first. My family is strict when it comes to education since my mom had to jump through a lot of hoops to be where she is now. A lot of immigration problems along with a language barrier. 

I was about to grab food myself when my phone started to ring. It became awkward quick because Lance’s ringtone on my phone is “Helpless” from Hamilton. I quickly press the end call and try my best to go back to eating… but of course Shiro will pester me.

“Who was that?”

Fuck you Shiro.

“Oh just Lance.”

My dad gives me a knowing look, and my mom picked up on the air in the room.

“Who is Lance?”

I swallow the lump that started in my throat. I guess this can’t be worse than me coming out.

“Lance is my boyfriend...Um yeah sorry about the late notice.”

I should have been expecting this reaction really, but everyone at the table got up and started to hug me.

“Oh Keith that’s wonderful!”

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

“Call him back we want to meet him!”

I am going to murder Shiro later, but as of right now I have to deal with my parents.

“You want to meet him?”

All of them release me from the group hug and my mom speaks first.

“Of course! We’ve noticed you’ve been happier lately and we want to know the cause of it! Call him back now.”

Welp time for Lance to have a heart attack. I click the call back button and since it’s a regular phone call my family is trying to listen in.

“Heyo Special K! I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time considering you didn’t pick up the first time.”

I look between my parents and Shiro… yeah of course not.

“Well um, do you have time to Skype? My family kinda, um… wants to meet you?”

I hear silence on the other end for a split second before it goes into heavy breathing.

“What are you serious?? Oh mierda I am not ready for this but what the heck lets do it. I’m gonna brush my hair and put on a shirt and I will woo your entire family I swear to it! I’ll meet you on Skype in two babe!”

With that he hangs up on me… great he is nervous and I have to let my family into my room in order to Skype him properly.

“Well he will be on Skype in two minutes so lets go to my room.”

The table with all of the uneaten food rests there as the Shirogane family climbs the stairs into my room. We brought the kitchens chairs and arranged them around my computer the best I could in my small room. I can tell that my parents are ecstatic and Shiro keeps giving me the shit eating grin like always. I think I’m gonna shave his head tonight… or maybe put fire ants in his bed.

Either way my Skype is ringing and I have to answer it. After a couple of rings the image clears to Lance sitting on this bed in his usual Skype set up. Not to be gay here, but he is wearing my hoodie and it looks incredibly cute on him. 

“Um… Hi the Shirogane family! I-I’m Lance!”

I can hear Shiro gushing right next to me and my parents are both beaming. My mom surprisingly speaks first.

“You have to tell us all about you! Keith wouldn’t give us all the details other wise.”

Lance looks shocked and his anxiety meter probably maxed out. 

“A-Ah I uh… swim? Um… Oh geez it’s tough remembering what I do in life… Keith help me out here!”

Almost instantaneously I start listing things off about Lance.

“Lance has a big family and he lives in Southeastern Wisconsin. He is incredibly smart, especially in math, and in his free time he likes to do DIY projects or go swimming whether its for a competition or for leisure. His star sign is Cancer, his favorite animal is a cow, he is afraid of blood, he loves orange flavoring even though its disgusting-”

“Hey orange flavoring is the best! You are a grape heathen”

“Grape is underappreciated and you know it.”

My family starts to laugh at our argument, and Lance is looking a lot less nervous. 

We talked for a solid five minutes before my mom calls it all off.

“It was so nice to meet you Lance. Maybe over spring break you could come visit us? I understand if it’s out of the way or expensive.”

Wait… My mom just invited Lance over for spring break? Will he say yes…?

“I would love to if I could! It’s something I would have to look into, but I’ll see what I can do!”

With that we say our goodbyes and hang up the call. It went A LOT better than what I was expecting… and maybe Lance will come visit when spring break rolls around. Either way I have cold food that I’m gonna eat then I have to find the perfect journal for Lance to read.

* * *

Keith’s family is such an amazing family. I’m glad I agreed to the Skype call cause I was seriously considering declining. His mom is a fairly forward person and his dad loves making small talk. Shiro on the other hand wouldn’t stop making fun of Keith and I was living for it.

Keith I know has to finish his food before I could call again, so I decide to visit Rex because it’s been awhile since I gave him an update on Keith. 

I check his room first expecting him to be there but he wasn’t. I know he didn’t have any plans with Noah or Circe tonight so he must be out in the garage. 

It’s fairly quiet in my house considering it’s not that late. Everyone is casually doing their own thing. Mama is reading a book and my Papa is flipping through TV channels. Before I got downstairs I seen Mariana doodling at her desk and Jonesy was on his phone casually scrolling. I was almost out the door before I seen Diego tending to the plants that reside on the counter. He was measuring different parts of the plant while recording the information in his tiny notebook. He doesn’t lose focus when I open the door and step out.

From the front door I can see the garage light on and Rex is definitely in there. I make my presence known to him by knocking on the garage frame once I reached the entrance. He still jumps since that’s just who Rex is.

“Come in whoever you are. Unless if you’re a murder then go away please.”

I take my usual stool in the corner until Rex gets out of the hood and greets me properly. He does so after a few seconds and half of his face is covered in grime.

“Oh hey Lance! You’re just in time. I was just about to go get you.”

I raise my right eyebrow.

“Um, why?”

Rex uses his hand to usher me over, so I guess I have no choice but to get off of my lovely stool and see what he wants to show me.

“...What do you think?”

It was a simple blue 2009 Ford Fusion. It’s the same car he has been working on for the past few weeks. Normally I’m not a car person, but man I would love to have a simple car like this.

“It’s really nice actually. If I had a car I would want something like this.”

Rex smiles at the compliment. He reaches into his tool box and pulls out a key.

“Well this car really gave me a lot of trouble, but it was worth it in the end.”

He tosses me the key and I barely catch it.

“Happy early birthday, Lance.”

What… Holy fuck he can’t be serious.

“Um Rex… You’re kidding right?”

Rex leans on the car with his right arm propped on top of it.

“I’m dead serious. You can finally be the one to drive our siblings everywhere. On top of that you and Pidge don’t have to walk everywhere… Oh and you can finally visit that boyfriend of yours. It’s gonna be underneath my insurance. You just have to sign a few things and get a license plate on it and it’s ready to go.”

“R-Rex I can’t- I mean an entire car!? You can’t just give an entire car to me!”

Rex stops leaning on the car and instead slings it around my shoulders.

“Oh but I can and I will. This is payback for the time you got me an entire $500 set of tools plus a bunch of expensive car parts for my birthday. I still have no idea how you got your hands on all of that, but either way we are even now.”

Tears were sitting on my eyes for some time now, but after what Rex said I’m balling now. 

Since we are on our own property Rex let me drive the car around the farm. I do have my license, but this baby isn’t properly registered and I didn’t want to push my luck. Rex did such an amazing job on this car. I have no idea what he did to it but I’m not experiencing any problems and the surround sound in here is awesome!

I went to go park the car back in the garage when my phone started to ring out “Teenagers” by My Chemical Romance. Oh Keith is calling! 

“Hey babe!”

“Hey! Sorry about my parents… Hopefully you liked them?”

Rex is standing in the garage with an eyebrow raised at me. I use the shooing motion with my hands while I unbuckle my seat belt.

“I loved them! Also Shiro is my absolute fave.”

“Ugh don’t say that to him. It will inflate his enormous ego… just like someone else I know.”

“Hey! You love my ego!”

Keith laughs on the other side of the line. God he sounds beautiful.

“Um, anyways what are you up to?”

Rex being the asshole he is decides to shut off the garage lights while he leaves through the garage door… So now my phone is the only thing producing light. I turn the light on in my car to counteract the darkness.

“Oh ya know, just sitting in...”

… Holy shit I could keep the car a secret and visit Keith…!

“...the dark.”

“Why are you sitting in the dark?”

“Oh I was hanging in the garage with Rex and while I was on the phone with you he decided to turn off the light and leave. So now I am sitting in the dark… So what are you up to?”

I turn on the flashlight function on my phone while I turn off my car light. Meanwhile I’m trying my best to close the car door without making too much noise. 

“Here’s an idea… How about you go back inside your house and Skype with me before we have to go to bed?”

I managed to close the car door silently, but my dumbass self clicked the lock button on the keys and the car beeped… LOUD.

“Lance, are you fucking around with Rex’s cars?”

“Ugh you caught me Special K. Rex decided to trust me to leave me in here alone… So I mean this is really his fault. I’ll stop what I’m doing and head back inside to talk with you.”

I’m smooth as fuck. Keith bought it and I closed up the garage while Keith talked with me about conspiracies for the rest of the night. He mentioned he was gonna send me a new journal for me to read and I decided that I’m gonna return the one I read with some other goodies that I’ve made for him.

It was time for both of us to go to bed, so I blew a kiss into the camera before Keith ended the call. He caught it of course, and he blew one back which obliterated my fucking heart.

“Night Baby Blue.”

“Night Special K.”

We never want to end the calls, but we’ve somehow managed to click off of Skype. 

… Now it’s time to have my plan spring into action.

**León72Azul to dadboi01:** _Could you do me a huge ass solid?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so WOW life has kicked my ass. Not only am I still in college but I'm working two jobs while trying to keep my cosplay hobby afloat. I've been sitting on this chapter for so long,, so like sorry you guys had to wait on this. I hate it when people don't update and I've sadly became that for a bit. I want to continue and finish this story obviously,, I just have no idea what the upload schedule is gonna be like. If you guys are interested with my everyday life and such I'm constantly on my cosplay instagram @rox6564 ! ((Same username as my tumblr omg)) and y'all can feel free to yell at me to update. I have BIG plans for the future of this story so hopefully I can find the time to write!

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter is short, but the rest will be longer I promise. Follow me on my personal Tumblr rox6564!


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